


Dancing with a Serial Killer

by lucydiamonds



Category: Original - Fandom, Original Work, Robert Sheehan - Fandom, Serial Killer - Fandom, bill skarsgårs, psychological - Fandom, psychopath - Fandom
Genre: Character Development, Drugs, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Eventual Smut, F/M, Female Friendship, Female Protagonist, Graphic Novel, Horror, Love, Major Character Injury, Male-Female Friendship, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Murder, Non-Explicit Sex, Obsession, Original Fiction, Original Universe, Psychological Drama, Psychological Horror, Psychological Trauma, Rape, Realistic, Rough Sex, Serial Killers, Sex, Sexual Tension, Violence, XX
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:54:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 21
Words: 26,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26615545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucydiamonds/pseuds/lucydiamonds
Summary: After sneaking her artwork into an art museum, Stella meets an intimidating yet attractive  man named Jude, completely disregarding the feelings of her best friend Forty. After a dispute, Stella learns that one of them is a sadistic psychopath who has been killing and assaulting women in their town.
Kudos: 4





	1. Who is he?

"Do you seriously think this is going to work?" Stella muttered as Zoey unwrapped the canvas that was concealed behind a bedsheet. Zoey promptly attached the painting to the exhibit wall and hastily turned around, "Even if it doesn't, we can tell people we broke into an art gallery" She giggled and tweaked the lighting to center on the painting. Stella's eyes skimmed across the room making sure no one noticed what they have done, Zoey grasped Stella's sweaty hand and yanked her to look at the painting from a distance. Zoey gasped, "This belongs here, not inside your closet" Stella nibbled her lip slightly, "It looks so out of place," she said glimpsing at the other beautiful portraits on display. Zoey tugged on Stella's hair, "Don't say that," and brushed through the strand she grabbed. Scattered voices started to fill the other room, "We've better go join them" Zoey said and began shoving the bedsheet inside a nearby vase. Stella groaned knowing that maybe Zoey was right that the painting belongs in the art gallery, but she felt embarrassed if anyone saw her work.

———-

Stella and Zoey goofed off during the tour of the exhibit, they've walked through the gallery countless times and because Zoey works for the art museum. As the crowd approached the aberrant painting, Stella could feel her heart beating in her fingertips. The tour guide abruptly pauses in front of the painting and stood in silence, Zoey shot a stabbing stare at Stella and had her fingers crossed. The tour guide cleared his throat, "This- is uh, a not so well known printed painting done by Vincent Van Goh" He said and rubbed his hands together, "The actual painting is at the Smithsonian museum, but we are fortunate to have the copy to have on display" Stella looked at Zoey with eyes the size of an 8 ball, Zoey pinched Stella implying that she was going to bring attention to herself.

As the group moved on, Zoey and Stella ran off to the exit double doors howling with laughter. "Did you see the fear in his eyes when he didn't know who made the painting!?" Zoey roared and started snorting, "I seriously can't believe he said Vincent Van Goh painted it," Stella said holding her head in disbelief. Behind them was a man who seemed around their age, "Wait, that wasn't a painting by Van Goh?" he asked trying to seem surprised, Stella's eyes darted to the man standing behind them "No shit, dipshit" Stella felt tense and stood up.

The man drew his hands up in defense, "Woah, I was just messing with you princess" He replied and shoved his hand in his pockets and strolled over to the girls. Zoey also stood up, "What did you think of it is the actual question," She stated and looked at her nails. Stella folded her arms across her chest waiting for a response from this stranger, she wanted to know his opinion even though she told herself it didn't matter. He drew from his cigarette and pulled it away between his thumb and index finger, "Different, it was very different" the grey smoke drifted off his words, "It seemed lonely" he cracked a smile. Stella smirked, taking his response as someone who also appreciated art "I guess your opinion is alright" she glanced over at Zoey for her approval. Zoey nodded and scratched the back of her head, "I should probably go back inside and set up the next tour" she responded and began shuffling towards the door, "I'll keep you updated on Van Goh" she smirked and let the door slam shut behind her. 


	2. One of them

Stella squatted down to get a closer look at the yellow funnel mushroom sticking proudly out of the ground. Flipping through her mushroom field guide book, Stella was able to classify the fungi as chanterelles. She smirked slightly and documented the mushroom in her book and closed it shut with her ballpoint pen crushed inside. She wandered farther into the woods scouring over the bushes and weeds looking for a new plant to discover, she held her hand above a prickle bush and glide her fingertips over the tips of the branches feeling the thorns. She began walking along a familiar path towards an abandoned tree house engulfed by a century-old maple tree. Dust lingered behind Stella as each of her footsteps left tracks in the dirt, her bar phone in her back pocket began ringing filling the soundless relic forest with the noises of modern-day society. Peering down, it was her best friend Forty calling, she groaned "Hello?" she answered dunking underneath a fallen tree. The fallen birch leaves crunched loudly beneath her feet as Forty was asking where she was "Come meet me at Winston" She replied and pushed back the branches covering the hidden gem.

Stella's boots scraped against the siding of the maple tree catching onto a rotten piece of wood, her hands wrapped tightly around the worn rope and hoisted herself up slowly scaling the tree. Her hands used to have blisters from the rope but that was a while ago, she pulled herself over the wooden flooring and stood up dusting the dirt off her shirt. She laid her book on the shelf alongside her other field guides and grabbed a bottle of water out from the wooden cabinet that didn't have a door. Stella frequently would stay in the treehouse for days and wander through the woods, she set her phone in the lockbox inside the main pillar that was supporting the treehouse and opened the thick storm windows letting the musty air flow out. She plopped on the bean bag facing the board games and shut her eyes drifting off.  
————-  
The main door to the treehouse opened and Forty tripped in with a heavy backpack. He huffed as he dropped the bag onto the wood causing a heavy boom to echo throughout the wooden structure, "I brought some stuff" he said and cleared the sweat off his forehead. Stella shot a smug glance at him and then the bag, "If it's not cool rocks I'm not interested" she rolled off the bean bag and over to his bag and began unzipping it. "You missed it by the way, the robin eggs hatched," he said and glanced over at the window exposing a nest of baby birds. Stella pulled out a jar of jam, bread, and other food items and a jar of weed. "Did you bring the seeds?" Stella said rattling the jar of green Kush, "Yeah they are in the front pocket" Forty responded and shook a pen out from his curly hair. Stella beamed widely as she examined the seeds, she swiftly got up and placed them on the side table, "We should start a garden for this year" she said and pulled a small twig from his hair. Forty immediately pulled out a few seeds from the side pocket of his bag, "I remember you mentioning it a few weeks ago so I bought some" he said with a wide smile and showed her the variety of vegetable seeds he brought.

Stella met Forty last year at a farmers market, she was smelling strawberries when he approached her with a cucumber asking if it smelt okay, since that day, Forty and Stella were inseparable. Stella and Forty laid on the floor sharing a joint, " Do you think animals can feel if you are a good person?" Stella asked and passed the joint back to Forty. Smoke rolled off his lips and into the crisp spring air, "I'd say so, but do you think mushrooms hide when they hear us?" He passed the joint back to her, Stella closed her eyes thinking. She perched up and tucked her auburn strand of hair behind her ears, "Yes, but if you find one, you're one of them" She giggled and blew out smoke.


	3. Twigs in his hair

The next morning was a bitterly cold start to the day, Stella stretched her legs out of the red sleeping bag and began to boil water over the open fire pit on the outside of the treehouse. She grabbed her spice colored beanie over her head and clasped her hands over the flame, she combined instant coffee to the boiling water and stirred. In the distance, chatter from the morning birds filled the air carrying life to the trees sprouting new buds. Forty came out from the lookout point wearing a striped vintage sweater, jeans, and a knitted hat made by Stella, "I love the smell of terrible coffee in the morning" He said and rubbed his verdigris eyes. Stella snickered and punched his shoulder lightly, "What? You don't like cheap instant coffee?" she said and plunged her finger in his cup before giving it to him. Forty stared at her and into his cup, "I hope you wash your hands" he said and took a sip. Stella put her finger in her ear, "I usually use this finger to clean my ears" she teased and wiped her finger on her jeans. He rolled his eyes "want to go hiking?' He said propping his feet on the dark wood railing.  
——

Forty nearly face planted trying to avoid getting caught in a thorn bush, "Don't worry malady" he said and pulled the branch out the way. Stella dramatically fluttered her eyes, "Thanks" she mumbled walking ahead of Forty who lingered behind her. "So when do classes start back?" Stella said making small talk, Forty is in his sophomore year of college "Next week, but my speech class doesn't start until the week after" he replied and pulled another branch out of the way for her. Forty loves psychology and wants to become a child psychologist after he finishes his degree, Stella on the other hand loves art and wildlife. A squirrel hurried up a nearby tree dropping the walnut it was carrying, Stella picked up the walnut and examined it before putting it back on the ground, "Why do-" Forty covered her mouth and pointed off into the field ahead of them, "Look" he whispered. A group of deers were eating blueberries and wandering around, Stella gasped and stood silently admiring the small pack of female deer. In her backpack she grabbed a zip lock baggie that held mulberries, she silently walked toward the young fawn with her hand extended out holding the berries. Forty stood off to the side watching her delicately approach the deer, the deer remained still while Stella was only an arm's length away. Slowly the deer approached her hand sniffing the berries she was holding, without delaying the deer began licking the berries from her hand. Smiling wide, Stella started petting the coarse fur of the fawn and motioned for Forty to quietly come over. He poured mulberries into the palm of his hand and stood next to Stella, Stella replaced her hand with Fortys so the deer would eat from his hand too. The other remaining deer noticed and came over begging for the mulberries, her and Forty soon ran out of berries and continued on their hike.


	4. Secret Tunnel

Kicking a rock back and forth, Stella broke the awkward silence between them "So, do you have any siblings?" she kicked the rock a little harder hurling it way ahead of their path. Jude kicked a new rock over to Stella, "No, what about you?" He asked. Stella kicked the rock back careful not to kick it too far like last time, "No, after my parents had me they didn't need any more" she chuckled. Jude smirked, "I think I made my parents realize they didn't like kids" he pulled a pack of cigarettes out from his front pocket and his lighter in the other, "Want one?" he asked, and flicked the lighter. Stella wasn't into smoking cigarettes the way she was with weed, she shrugged and took the fresh cigarette. The breeze blew small helicopter seeds from the nearby trees in the sky before letting them rest on the concrete ahead of them, Stella covered the cold cigarette with her pale skin while Jude held the lighter for her. The wind whisked her hair back and forth as she exhaled grey smoke, "I know this cool place, want to see it?" He said setting the lighter back in his pocket.

Jude led the way as they descended into a dense patch of woods behind a church, "You can fish down here, the water runs off into lake Gangel so you might catch some large bass" His voice hitched as he skidded down the side of a large sewer opening. Stella blew her hair out of her face and swatted the few mosquitoes that hummed in her ear, "How long have you been coming here?" she asked now standing on an island of sand surrounded by dingy brown water. Jude walked over the rocks under the shallow water, "Since I was a kid, I've never seen anyone since I've started coming here" He leaped onto the clay ledge and stretched his hand for Stella to take, she hesitated but took it. "This is the best part," He exclaimed as he pulled himself over the cold concrete, Stella gazed down at her hand and smirked seeing the mud smears on her palm from Jude's hand. Jude pulled Stella onto the slab overlooking the creek, Stella peered around with full eyes admiring the treasures of the sewer drain. "I love stuff like this!" she blurted and started scouting out her surroundings dunking under giant cobwebs. Jude chuckled, "It's really neat, it doesn't get wet when it rains" he dried his hands on his jeans and placed them on his hips watching Stella toss pebbles into the water below them.

"Want to see something cool?" Jude said sitting next to Stella on the bottom of the dried sewer, she nodded with eyes full of wonder. Jude let out a howl that echoed deep into the sewer tunnel making Stella roar with laughter, she let out a howl letting it join the lingering alto howl causing them to harmonize. Stella stared deeply into Jude's face examining his features, maybe he wasn't as cocky as she thought he was when they first met at the art museum. Jude caught Stella staring at him, his face heated a soft red "Hold still" He bluntly stated with no expression on his face, a frown formed across Stella's face "What??" she whispered. Jude stared deeply into her eyes almost seeming like he was going to lean in and kiss her, "There is a giant spider in your hair" He gasped and began laughing, Stella's lips let out a small squeak and she started swatting at her head making sure she got the spider. Jude rolled over laughing, Stella smacked his arm "Hey! Spiders are the only thing that scares me other than the dark" she said laughing with him.

Jude tucked Stella's hair behind her bedazzled ear covered in piercings, "I should walk you home" He groaned and stood up and offered his hand to her, "It seems like the sun is setting" She glanced above the trees looking at the burnt orange sunset. She took his hand and stood up and brushed off her jeans, she went to let go of his hand, but he held on and proceeded to climb out of the tunnel.

"I actually live with Zoey, the girl from the art museum" Stella spoke behind him and hopped onto the spongy ground with a sparse thud. He laughed, "You have to guide me there" he squeezed her small hand and had her lead the way out of the woods.


	5. Empty chip bags

Stella sat with her knees folded beneath her while holding a thick wooden paintbrush tightly in her fingers. With every stroke she took with the brush she felt her chest tighten and her grip grew firmer, it wasn't long before she slammed the bristles on the canvas and dragged a heavy black line through the middle with a heavy grunt, "FUCK THIS" she shouted and flung her body on the carpet heaving deeply. Zoey in the living room paused her Walkman cassette player, "Huh??" she questioned and paused listening for a response but was left with silence and pushed play. Stella gradually dragged herself up off the floor and onto her quilt, her room was scattered with half-finished portraits, paintbrushes, and empty bags of chips that were weeks old. Stella pulled her Nokia out from her side drawer and gawked at it blankly, It has been almost three weeks since Jude walked her home and she was considering calling him but dialed Forty instead. Stella played with the loose string hanging off her quilt waiting for Forty to pick up, but he didn't. Stella smacked her face into her pillow leaving a muffled voicemail telling Forty to call her back before she scalps him.

An hour later Stella was back on the floor with a new canvas, old paintbrushes, and with new splinters in her hand. Zoey softly peaked her head in the crack of the door, "Hey Stel, I'm going to bed. My cassette is on the counter if you get bored" She whispered and blew Stella a kiss, Stella grabbed the kiss in the air and threw it on the ground pretending to stomp on it. She chuckled, "I'm kidding, goodnight glow worm" She replied as Zoey walked down the hallway to her room. Stella stood up and grabbed the cassette with matching grey headphones, she flipped through the rack holding a variety of cassette genres. She pulled out 'In Utero" by Nirvana and popped it into her cassette player and shuffled back to her cave to dreadfully go back to trying to paint.

Her feet bobbed back and forth with her head as she mouth the words to 'Dumb' she applied to thumb to the red acrylic and swiped it into the black smudging the two, behind her Forty crept with a wide grin on his face. Stella felt the wooden planks on the floor vibrate quietly, she quickly drew her headphones down and let them set around her next and looked behind her, "Holy shit! What the hell Forty??" She gasped clutching her chest. Forty laughed and plopped down next to her, "I got your voicemail" He said and tossed his phone on her side table. Stella swiftly tucked her hair behind her ear, "I can see that" she replied and sat up cracking her back from sitting with a terrible posture. He took his boots off and sat them next to the closet door, "I can help you clean your room" he stated glancing around at all the clothes and empty chip bags. Stella's cheeks flushed a deep red, Forty stood up "Sometimes I need help cleaning my room too" He said trying to comfort Stella. She shrugged, "I've avoided looking at everything" she glanced around and letting her eyes sink to her feet ashamed. Forty grabbed a black trash bag from the kitchen, "Don't be embarrassed, my room isn't always cleaned either. It'll make you feel better, I promise" he said and began grabbing old paper bags and shoving them inside the bag. Stella stood up and grabbed clothes off the floor and tossed them into a basket while Forty collected the accumulated trash.


	6. Watch Tower

The sun shined through Stella's sealed eyes and woke her quietly, she groaned and rolled over and cracked open one eye looking down at Forty fast asleep on her bedroom rug. She pulled the quilt off her body and drooped her legs over her bed stretching, a small groan accompanied by a yawn fled her lips. She poked Forty with her big toe that was painted a deep burgundy color, "Forty, wake up" she rubbed her eyes and stood up glancing around her now tidy room. Forty stretched silently on the floor and sat up blinking away the work from the sandman while Stella went to brew coffee.

**

Stella's phone began ringing from her bedroom while she and Forty were mimicking the advertisements on the television. Stella swiftly got up leaving Forty in the other room and grabbed her phone pausing when she saw it was Jude who was calling her. She hesitated slightly but she was too weak to Ignore his call, "Hello?" she answered in a seemingly cool way, "Hey! I've been waiting for you to call me" Jude replied, "I haven't heard from you so I was calling to see if you wanted to hang out" he added. Stella paused thinking quickly, 'Uhm yeah!" She responding disregarding the fact that Forty was still over in her living room. "Okay cool, meet at the cross-section between Rosemoor and Franklin," He said and ended the call.

Forty in the other room turned the volume down on the television, "Who was that?" He asked with his eyebrow raised. Stella grabbed her boots off the shoe rack, "Jude, he wanted me to meet up with him" She started loosening her boot strings. Forty analyzed her face, "Is Jude that one guy from the art show?" He muffled as he grabbed his shoes. Stella noticed him putting on his shoes, " Yeah, he's actually pretty cool" She stood up and wiggled her toes around in her boots. " I think Zoey will be home later" She quickly said and tucked her hair back. Forty noticed her trying to leaving without him and got the hint, "Oh okay, I'll hang out here" he trailed off as Stella slammed the door behind her before he was finished talking. He swung his shoes back on the rack and slumped back on the with a sigh and peered over at the clock.

**

Jude stood on the sidewalk looking around for Stella, he beamed noticing Stella walking on the other side of the sidewalk. Stella smirked at the ground hiding her slightly pink cheeks, "Hey" he said genially and embraced her in a hug. She inhaled deeply letting his cologne filled her pink lungs with his scent, "Hey" she responded and pulled away with a smile. "I want to show you something cool again" he chirped and began walking on the road, "Should I expect you to show me something cool every time I see you?" she bantered trailing beside him. Jude pursed his lips, "Sure but don't be upset if I don't meet your expectations" he responded and grasped her hand to hold.

**

Stella and Jude remained holding hands as he guided her into the woods, Stella glimpsed at their hands that joined them together and grinned. His hands were larger and thicker than hers, callused with some cuts but butterflies still fluttered inside her looking at them. "I hope you're a good climber" He stated and began climbing up the braided rope, she laughed tauntingly, "I don't think you are aware of my skills" She chuckled and began scaling the other rope racing him up a tall structure. He tried catching up with her but finished last, "Its because my lungs are black" He laughed catching his breath. Stella stood with her hands on her hips, "I like to compete, might as well get used to being out of breath" She patted his back comforting him, "now what?" She asked as they stood inside the metal structure that didn't have much light. Jude led her over towards the stairs, "We climb again, but without competing" he laughed and clutched the unstable railing.

**

They reached the end of the stairs and Stella stood at the opening of the watchtower with her mouth the size of a capital O. "This is so cool!" She squeaked looking over the railing of the tower at the woods beneath them. "Okay but imagine this during a zombie apocalypse" She looked over at Jude for a response. Her cyan colored eyes locked with his hazel ones, he casually walked over to her and wrapped his hands around her torso and pulled her body to his, her face blushed a bright red, and the butterflies that were in her stomach migrated between her legs. Naturally, her hands wrapped around his neck, and her face laid against his chest feeling his heartbeat nervously, she raised her head from his chest and slightly pulled away gazing at his lips. Strands of hair trailed through his hands as he tucked them behind her ear, "I like you Stella" he whispered as the words rolled off his lips like soft clouds that made her mouth water as if they were pink cotton candy, "I-I like you too" she whispered almost inaudibly.

His tongue brushed his bottom lip, "I've been thinking about this moment for the past few weeks" he whispered in her ear and smirked. If Stella's cheeks could be anymore brighter, she would look like a tomato, she was glad they weren't holding hands anymore because hers were sweaty and trembling. She nibbled her lip softly, Jude's hands cupped her face as he leaned in and began kissing her softly. She ran her fingers through his hair while she felt time stop as his tongue sneakily crept onto her bottom lip before he tugged on it slightly. Letting go of her bottom lip his hand moved from her face to her hips and pulled them closer to his, her body tensed as her panties started to become moist. Her tongue slipped between his warm lips and was greeted by his greedy tongue, her knees felt weak as he leaned her against the metal interior of the watchtower.

She was almost certain she could feel his stiff cock that was restricted in his jeans pressing against her, she smiled gingerly at the idea of it but pulled away teasingly. He bit his lip slightly and stared at her with hungry eyes, "It's getting late" she whispered. The sun was starting to set above the trees and cast a shadow inside the tower, he hummed softly "I'll walk you home" he said and took his hands off her waist.


	7. The Leper

Stella locked the front door behind her quietly and shook off her boots, she swept her hair from her face and looked up to see Forty asleep on the sofa, Stella rolled her hands through her hair stressfully. Instead of waking Forty she draped the throw blanket covering him and turned the television and lights off. Stella shuffled to her room and took off her clothes and laid beneath her quilt with only a bra and panties on, she sighed and tossed over onto her back staring into the darkness of her bedroom thinking about Jude. She closed her eyes imagining his hands gliding over her belly button and up to her bra before unhooking it, Stella took her bra off and tossed it off the side of the bed. Her hands shifted to her fairly large breast for a girl of her frame. Her thumbs circled over her pink nipples making them to perk with excitement, thinking of Jude's hands rubbing her breast made her panties moisten. She turned over and with her right hand she pulled open the bottom of her side drawer and pulled out her vibrator, her left hand anchored on her breast while she coasted the vibrator down the sheets and between her legs. Starting on a medium setting, Stella rubbed her clit slowly craving each vibration that rushed through her, a small moan fled her lips as she thought of Jude’s tongue dancing with her clit. She turned the pace of her vibrator up and took her left hand off her breast and gripped her bedsheets, she moaned louder as her legs quivered from the tensity building at her clit. She could feel her climax approaching and began circling her clit faster with her vibrator, a whimper of relief filled the air as she came.  
*  
The next morning Forty left and Zoey sat at the table eating a bagel while flipping through the newspaper. “Morning,” she said without looking up from her newspaper, Stella yawned and poured herself some coffee and added cream. “Watcha reading? She sat in the wooden chair across from her. Zoey sat her coffee down on the coaster, “Apparently a girl was murdered last night” she flipping back to the article, “What happen?” Stella lifted her eyebrow curiously. Zoey slumped in her chair, “Amanda Yields body was found on a trail in park Saint Francis last night, she was raped and beaten. No suspects have been identified, if you have any information regarding her death please contact our anonymous hotline” She skimmed the other details of the article. Stella sat back in her chair, “That’s only a few miles away” She shook her head in disbelief and sipped from her coffee. An hour passed while they sat and chatted about the murder before Stella realized the time.  
“I’m going to go to Winston for a few days, if you get bored you know where I’ll be” Stella stood up pushing her chair in and outing her coffee mug in the sink. Zoey nodded, “Be careful” she shouted behind Stella, “I will” she said and waved goodbye and shut the door behind her.  
Stella smirked noticing that the trees now have all their leaves and are bright green, she booted a pile of helicopters that have fallen from the trees and passed by the liquor store. An older man in his 50’s sat on the curb of the store with a cardboard sign saying ‘Work for money’ he glanced up at her with filth in his raggedy beard and a stained colored tank top. “Wheres your daddy?” he rasped with a gummy grin, Stella recoiled shocked that he spoke to her, she ignored him and kept walking away. The man stood up with a grunt, “Come back here baby, ’ll be your daddy” He snickered and stalked behind her as she began running into the woods.  
The old man slowed down and slowly stopped following her and flung his hands in the air and held himself over his knees huffing, “Fuck you too bitch!” he yelled behind her. Hot tears gushed from her eyes as her chest heaved heavily. She sank down behind a large oak tree and pulled her knees tp her chest and wiped her eyes with trembling hands, a forgotten memory sprang in her mind from her therapy sessions reminding her to take in deep breathes slowly. She rubbed the fabric of her jeans between her thumb and index finger and slowly stood up sniffling, “It was just a leper” she repeated to herself several times as she began climbing the rope leading to the treehouse.


	8. Punchies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starting cast:  
> Young Brooke Shields: Stella Adams  
> Robert Sheehan: Forty Montgomery  
> Evan Rachel Wood: Zoey Renn  
> Bill Skarsgård: Jude Bowen

Stella watered the thriving marijuana plant that she and Forty planted, she’s been alone for a few days and was glad to be. Her messy bun had straggling pieces flopping over her face and her cropped tank top fit like a glove over her braless chest. She knew if her parents saw what she was had on they would have a stroke, Stella tended to her vegetable garden reminiscing about the last time she spoke to her parents. Stella’s parents were stern and were made of money, that was all her father worried about while her mom only cared about her and Stella’s image and reputation. The only thing Stella was grateful for was for the bank account that let her do whatever she wanted until she found a career, Stella didn’t wear her money and lives rather frugally. It started getting hot throughout the day and Stella hated it, she preferred the spring and fall and hated the winter and summer.  
Stella climbed back into the treehouse and began fixing dinner for the night while reading ‘IT’ by Stephen King in her other hand. A small knock on the door made Stella almost drop her book, she looked up seeing Forty standing in the doorway of the living room. Stella let out a sigh of relief, “How’d you know I was here?” Stella asked astonished. Maybe Forty had called her but she didn’t know because she kept her phone put away, “Zoey told me you were here” He answered and sat on the sofa and took his shoes off sitting them next to the door. Stella hummed slightly, “I came here to ask you a question” he nibbled his bottom lip and rubbed his hands together. Stella sat down next to him, “What’s your question? She asked trying to make eye contact with Forty who was dodging it. He breathed deeply, Well…” he swallowed, “My school is having a required ball for the college students and we need a date” he spoke low staring at his striped socks, “and so I was wondering if you would be my date” he looked up at her and captured her stare. Stella gawked blankly into his eyes, her cheeks crimsoned slightly feeling hot “When?” she asked. Forty rubbed his face, “Friday..” he smiled nervously knowing it was late notice. “Maybe Zoey will help me pick a dress” and smirked seeing his apparent expression.  
*  
Zoey ran into the boutique shop hauling Stella along with her, “Zoey!! You’re going to pull my arm off!” she shouted as Zoey flipped rapidly through the racks. Stella grunted, she forgot that Zoey was obsessed with clothes and aspired to be a fashion designer, she rolled her eyes and Zoey started handing her a pile of dresses in all lengths and designs. Zoey gasped loudly when she saw a red dress on display, “Stella” she said and she stretched the bottom of the dress out examining it, “Put those dresses back” she said as started stripping the mannequin leaving it exposed. “If you don’t wear this I will punch you in your throat” she raced her into the dressing room.  
Stella struggled to find her way into the gown, she raised her head and gazed at herself in the mirrors of different angles. The dress felt silky smooth against her skin and fitted like a glove revealing her feminine features, she inhaled slightly and smiled. The off-shoulder dress sat cozily on her chest and gathered around her waistline before spilling out at her hips and to the floor. Beautiful jewels speckled throughout the dress as they gathered at her waistline, and a ribbon on the back to tighten the red dress. Stella stepped out of the dressing room anxiously and hugged her arms over her chest, “Stella you look so beautiful” she cried and flung her arms around Stella’s neck, Stella smiled nervously “Thank you for helping” she hugged Zoey back before switching into her comfy clothes.  
*  
Stella stepped out of the steaming shower and covered her towel around her chest and applied a face mask, tomorrow night is the ball with Forty and she strangely felt nervous about going. Stella sat on the sofa in her towel and grey face mask on flipping through channels, Zoey came out also with a face mask on and sat next to Stella on the sofa sharing chocolate caramels. “So… do you like Forty? I know you're talking to that guy Jude” she spoke disrupting the silence between them. Stella chuckled slightly, “I don’t know, he hasn’t really made a move on me” she muffled with chocolate in her mouth. Zoey rolled her eyes, “He obviously likes you, he respects you too much to make a move on you without being your boyfriend” she snorted, Stella punched her shoulder almost knocking her piece of chocolate out of her hand. Zoey furrowed her eyebrows, “what I’m saying is that you can’t be seeing two guys at once.” Stella huffed, “Yeah, I’m not a cuck Zoey” she rolled her eyes annoyed, “I like Jude because he’s bold and doesn’t respect me too much like Forty” she flipped to the MTV channel and sat the remote between them. Zoey laughed, “I would love to have to guys fighting over me” she sighed.  
A piercing silence settled between them, “I don’t want to ask Jude out, I want him to ask me” she blurted and pulled at the sides of her face mask. Zoey pursed her lips, “Have you made it obvious that you like him?.” Stella rolled her eyes, “Duh, for fucks sake we almost had sex” her cheeks blushed with color but luckily the mask hid it well. Zoey covered her mouth shocked, “oooooh” she wailed and socked Stella in the arm. Stella punched her back causing an all-out war of punchies between them.


	9. The Back Street Boys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This event will take up this chapter and possibly the next.  
> Happy reading! :)

Stella rolled the mascara wand through her long eyelashes and cleaned up her eyeshadow and eyeliner with a wipe, her ruby lips paired her dress while her hair was pulled into a relaxed bun with curled strands of hair framing her face with a vine-like hairpiece wrapped inside. She stepped back from her small mirror and viewed her reflection, and held her sweaty hands nervously as she Zoey shouted out from the other room that Forty is here. Stella let out a long sigh and slipped into her heels and uneasily hurried out into the living room, “Hi” she muttered as both Forty and Zoey paused mid-conversation and gawked at her. Stella’s expression dropped, “What?” she asked and held her arm with her other. “You look amazing” Forty stammered while Zoey stroked Stella’s shoulder reassuringly, “You look gorgeous” Zoey beamed and gave her a warm hug. Stella’s heels made her stand around 5’6 and was several inches shorter than Forty, she examined Forty’s tux before smiling at him.  
*  
Forty opened the car door for Stella and watched as she adjusted her dress, “Thank you” she stammered while looking down at the grass beneath her heels, “What’s wrong?” He asked shuffling back and forth. She shrugged her shoulders, “I’ve actually never been to a ball or a prom with people my age” she twirled her thumbs and looked up at Forty with furrowed brows, Forty hummed slightly, “I went to my high school prom, it sucked” he chuckled trying to lighten the mood, “I didn’t have a date, no one wanted to date a pizza face” he smiled weakly, “I came because my friend and his date needed a ride” he added and laid his hand on her back. “I hope I can make it up to you for all the dances you’ve lost out on” he smiled warmly making Stella blush slightly. Stella began feeling conflicted feelings towards Forty and didn’t understand why. Maybe she liked him, she thought or maybe it was because he saying these nice things towards her. “Are you ready?” He asked and looked over at the entrance to the building, she nodded slightly and grinned. She picked one side of her dress up from the ground with clammy hands and linked arms with Forty, she inhaled deeply as they entered the bronze-colored room that dangled fairy lights and white sheets above them. Stella beamed as she stared in awe at the beautifully placed lights while music filled the air as people chatted and laughed. Stella gripped onto Forty’s hand as they approached his group of friends and their dates, as they were halfway over towards them, they all stopped and stared as they approached. One girl rolled her eyes and punched the shoulder of the other girl breaking her stare, “Hey” Forty shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced over at his friends and their dates. He looked back over towards Stella and smiled at the thought that the most beautiful girl came with him to the dance.  
“Who’s this?” His one friend spoke up while surveying Stella’s whole body, she blushed slightly and held onto Forty’s arm. “I’m Stella” She spoke with a shaky voice, “I’m Logan” He responded and shook her hand cordially. His other friends introduced themselves as Ben, Adam, and Art, along with their girlfriends Olympia, Mary, and Kelly. Forty wandered off with his friends to get drinks leaving Stella with the girls she just met. Stella anxiously nibbled her lip looking around the room at the other couples and groups chatting, “So Stella, what’s your major?” Olympia asked and clicked her tongue. Stella mumbled slightly, “I actually don’t go here” She stuttered feeling their stares cutting through her, Olympia scoffed slightly “I didn’t start until last year” Mary chimed in with a reassuring smile. Stella exhaled trying to relax her tense body, “If I did I’d probably study biology” She added peering at her heels, “I’m in pre-med for nursing” Kelly twirled her black hair between her fingers.  
Stella caught a glimpse of a familiar face in the distance, “Jude?” she whispered and furrowed her brows confused on why he was here. “Huh?” Kelly glanced in the direction Stella was looking, “I’ll be back, tell Forty I ran into a friend” she walked briskly past them and to over Jude that was laughing with a girl. Stella tapped his shoulder breaking the conversation between the two, “What are you doing here?” Stella hastily asked. Jude studied Stella’s body before making contact with her eyes, “I came here with my friend Naya” He said looking over at his date that was chatting with her friends, Stella face flushed slightly feeling hot. She reminded herself that she also came here with someone else, “Oh” she whispered almost inaudibly. Jude bit his lip, “You look amazing” he filled the awkwardness between them, Stella ran her tongue across her teeth remembering the taste of his mouth. She chuckled lightly “Everyone has been saying that but I don’t feel like it” she could feel her skin crawling with anxiety. Jude shook his head, “Look around, your probably the only girl here that isn’t high off of her own ass fumes” He snickered and gave her shoulder a reassuring shake. She laughed slightly, “ I should probably head back to my date” She mumbled knowing if she didn’t leave soon she was probably going to attack his face. He nodded, “I’ll talk to you later”  
*  
Forty wrapped his hands around Stella’s torso as she wrapped her arms around his neck and swayed with him to the music. Naturally, Stella led their dance, her parents forced Stella into learning how to dance ever since she could walk. “You're pretty good at this” He commented as he rubbed his thumb on the fabric of her dress, she smiled slightly, “Thanks, you can thank my parents” She leaned closer, couples gathered the floor as ‘I’ll never break your heart’ by The Backstreet Boys grabbed their attention. Forty and Stella swayed rhythmically to the song, Forty stared into her wandering eyes as she searched for Jude among the dancing couples before finding him and Naya dancing in front of the DJ booth dancing. Naya tossed her head back laughing at something Jude said, Stella’s cheeks felt feverish as she quickly looked back towards Forty, “Everything alright?” he whispered. Stella nodded and laid her head on his chest, “I want you to have a good time” He whispered in her ear and held her closer, the song came to an end leading into ‘Right here waiting’ Stella smirked, she told herself she was going to forget that Jude came and enjoy her time with Forty. Forty trembled slightly realizing this was the closest he has ever been to her, he brushed her back softly while thinking about how lucky he was that she agreed to come with him. Stella glanced over one last time and saw Naya and Jude kissing, she could feel her heart sink to her stomach.  
The song finally ended then an older lady grabbed the microphone on stage, “Thank you all for coming to our annual ball of 1994!” She cheered and applauded along with everyone else, “I want to give a special thanks to our events club and to everyone who helped make this possible” She walked across the stage. “Before I let you all have the rest of the night, I want to remind everyone to be safe and drive home safely. Thank you" Everyone cheered as the music started back up and everyone went back to dancing and chatting.


	10. His cigarettes

As the dance was nearing an end, Forty was chatting with his friend, Stella saw it was the perfect chance to talk to Jude. She roamed around the building looking for him, it was an extension of the school and had high ceilings and paintings hung on the walls of the hallway. Her heels echoed behind her as Stella turned into the entrance of the next hall and ran into Jude and Naya making out. Jude’s hands fumbled her breast hungrily and she had her hands tangled in his hair, Stella gasped feeling her chest bursting into pieces like a glass plate. Jude suddenly looked up and caught a glimpse of Stella as she ran away the quiet hall filled with loud clanking from her heels, “Stella wait!” He shouted behind her and began running after her leaving Naya in the other hallway confused. Stella couldn’t utter a single word, mascara stained her cheeks as her tears streamed down. She kicked off her heels and left them on the ground and burst through the exit doors and darted towards Forty’s car leaving Jude behind. She shielded her eyes with her hands and sobbed loudly, makeup bits fell from her face and stained her hands as she rubbed her eyes. “Breathe in…. breathe out” a voice in her head reminded her as she took several deep breathes, she took her bar-phone out from the shorts she was wearing underneath her dress and texted Forty.  
Moments later Forty got in the car and gazed sympathetically at Stella, her hands covered her face as she wept. “H-he was making out with her” she hiccupped and sobbed even harder, “He was even groping her breast” she wailed. Forty started the engine and pulled out from the parking lot and placed his hand on her thigh, “I’m sorry Stella” he whispered feeling his heart go out to her, he couldn’t bear seeing her so shattered. She rested her head against the window, “I thought he liked me” She whimpered as tears dropped onto her dress.  
*  
Stella unlocked the front door of her apartment with Forty standing behind her, “Do you want to come in? I know it’s late” She looked over at him with bloodshot eyes, he nodded in response. Zoey was already asleep by the time they got home so they quietly sneaked around to her bedroom, “I’m going to take a shower” she said then began collecting pajamas to bring into the shower. Forty sat on her bed gazing around her still clean bedroom before standing up and poking around with things in her room. He played with her metal slinky and flipped through some of her cassettes before snooping over to her side table, he saw pieces of gum, sketches, jewelry before his eyes settled on her vibrator. His face blushed a bright red and quickly closed the drawer sitting back on the bed thinking about her vibrator, he shook his head ‘erasing’ the thoughts he was having and continued to play with her slinky before she came back.  
Her wet hair was braided and she was wearing striped pajama pants, Forty was still in his tux from the dance. “Do you want some clothes?” She asked, “I don’t think you’ll have my size” He chuckled. “I shop in the men’s section occasionally” She chuckled softly and pulled out a Nirvana T-shirt and men’s sweatpants and handed it over to him. He changed in the other room and came back to her sitting on the side of the bed dazing off, “I think you should go to sleep” He started putting her blanket down for her, “Will you sleep with me tonight? Like, just sleep” she looked up to him with large doe eyes. He hesitated slightly but agreed, he climbed in on the other side of the bed and flicked off her bedroom lights leaving her faint night light on. “You can come closer” She whispered in the dark, he shuffled closer to her smelling her sweet scent that made his heart thump louder in his chest. She scooted closer to him and took his hands and wrapped them around her, his chest fit snuggly against her back feeling her breathe in and out. She intertwined her legs into his and closed her eyes, “Besides seeing Jude and Anya, I had a great time” her words muffled against her sheets, he smiled “I had a wonderful time with you too, you looked so beautiful in your dress” he whispered and pulled her closer to him. Silence filled the air as she quickly dozed off to sleep, he lied awake hoping her dreams would alleviate her emotional pain. He was happy to have her in his arms but this wasn’t how he imagined it would happen, he promised himself that he will always be here for her.  
*  
Zoey busted through Stella’s door and shook her awake disregarding that Forty was asleep in the same bed, “Stella! Wake up!” She shook her aggressively causing Stella to spring from her bed, “what???” she stammered short of breath. “Forty wake your ass up” she launched a sock at him making his face make a sour expression, “Last night a girl from the school prom was murdered” Zoey pushed her newspaper in Stella’s now alert face. Stella grabbed the newspaper and Forty leaned over her shoulder reading it along with her  
“Vanessa Hodges was found this morning behind Lakewood University, last seen at the event the college held. An anonymous tip stated she was last seen with her boyfriend Christopher Jackson before she went missing last night. If anyone has seen anything unusual or saw Vanessa leave the building please don’t hesitate to use our anonymous tip line or contact the police”  
“I-I don’t know who that is” Stella stuttered and looked over to Forty, “She was in my math class, but I didn’t know her” He shook his head with wide eyes, “Could it be the same person who killed the other girl in the park?” Stella asked, “It could be, it appears that Lake county has a serial killer” He slumped back into the bed staring at the ceiling. Zoey inhaled deeply, “Stella for the time being, I think we should both be home by 10 pm or at least let each other know where we are” she chewed on her nail slightly, Forty gasped “Oh but not me” He laughed before both Zoey and Stella punched his shoulder.  
*  
Days floated past and she still hadn’t heard from Jude, Zoey was pissed off at him and Forty was too. The crickets outside Stella’s open window began to chirp she pulled out her painting supplies attempting to forget about Jude. She sighed looking at her paint set, she was tired of using the same brushes and paints, she wanted to try something different. She looked at her watch and decided it was too late to go out, and just packed up her supplies instead. The cricket stopped chirping outside her window causing Stella’s ears to perk up, “Who’s out there?” She shouted out her window. A twig fell from the tree next to her window, “Hello??” She shouted, “I know you are out here!” She shouted into the night, Jude hopped down from the tree startling Stella. Jude sighed, “You are creepily aware of your surroundings”  
He joked, Stella rolled her eyes unamused, “What do you want?” her voice was cold and unwelcoming. “I wanted to apologize for what happened at the dance” his face was in her window frame peeking around her room, “Where’s your girlfriend?” She scoffed, “I don’t even know why I care” she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against her bed.  
“Can I come in? there are mosquitos out here” He smacked his neck killing a striped mosquito. “No” She leaned on the window, “I don’t want to talk to you right now” She spoke and quickly took his pack of cigarettes that were inside the pocket of his shirt. “Hey” He groaned and tried grabbing it back but she was faster than him. She pulled out a cigarette and ignited it with her bedside matches. He watched at her as she drew on his cigarettes, “You are so damn hot” He whispered with a begging expression. She put the cigarette between her lips and slammed her window shut leaving him tapping on her window. “Goodnight” she flicked her lights off and curled under her blankets drawing from her cigarette in the dark while he begged to let her in.


	11. Filthy tiles

Over the next several weeks two more girls were reported missing causing Zoey to be even more concerned, “ Stella I really don’t think you should go to that party” She cried with pleading eyes, Stella huffed “I’ll be safe and I’ll bring my phone I promise” she grasped her backpack and hung it over her shoulder, “If something happens I will call you and besides, Forty will be there” Stella was practically out the door as she spoke. Zoey rolled her eyes and sighed as she watched her walk down the street through the window and went back to flipping the cosmo catalog.  
Stella dragged out her pack of cigarettes from her back pocket of her jeans and drew deeply from her burning cigarette. She blew dusky smoke into the air sensing a wave of relief fill her body, her migraine eased as she sucked her cigarette shorter and shorter. Her family and her past started weighing heavily on her mind over the past few weeks, she peered down at her short cigarette with disappointing eyes and tossed it to the ground stubbing it out with her shoes. Stella met with Forty at the intersection of Pepper lane and Academy and walked with him to Ingrid Sutcliffe’s party. Forty smelled Stella, “You smell like cigarettes” He grimaced. Stella glanced down at her shoes, “Yeah” she bluntly replied. Forty shoved his hands in his pocket and was quiet for a moment, “I wish you would’ve told me you started” He continued sounding disappointed. Stella’s eyebrows knitted together, “It was just a gradual thing, ya know? I didn’t realize it was happening until it happened” she combated the urge to fish into her pocket for another.  
Forty noticed she had bags forming under her doe eyes, “Are you alright?” He asked as they walked up the porch to the large white house. Music thumped loudly inside and lingering outside the building, Stella clenched her fists, “I’m fine” she gritted becoming uncomfortable with sharing her feelings. Forty gave Stella one last glance before ringing the doorbell that was muffled by the music, minutes later Ingrid answered the door clutching a red solo cup with her right hand. “Oh hey!” She garbled and invited them in, “Don’t wander alone and call me if you need me” He gripped her shoulder tightly. His deep green eyes were huge, “Don’t wander off” He emphasized and walked over to Art and Ben. Stella stood alone for a second before snooping around Ingrid’s family's house, she smirked at her family photo noticing the similarities between her and her siblings. She soon found her way into the kitchen and watched several people attempt to play beer pong but all had some pretty bad aim, she laughed as one guy was completely off from the cup and got mad.  
“Think you can shoot better than him?” A familiar voice emerged behind her, she flinched and quickly turned around and was greeted with Jude’s snarky smile. She grunted and crossed her arms over her chest, “Are you following me?” Stella spat and squared him up and down, he laughed wildly “No, that’s very self-centered of you to think that, princess” a smug grin appeared on his lips. She punched his arm forcefully, “Then why are you here” she clicked her tongue. He leaned against the countertop, “Because I’m friends with Ingrid’s older brother Zack” He ran his hands through his hair. He sat up, “I saw you earlier but I left you alone, that was until I saw you judging my boy Casey” He snickered and nodded at Casey who just slammed down his solo cup feeling accomplished. Stella rolled her eyes, “I was not” contending back.  
“If you are so sure that you weren’t judging, then why don’t you and I play a match against them?” He pointed at Casey and his girlfriend who landed the ping pong ball into their opponent's cup. Stella swayed on both feet weighing the outcomes, “Fine” she mumbled and took off her jacket exposing her low neck shirt.  
Both Jude and Stella took turns shooting ping pong balls into their opponent's cup, Stella finally landed one into a cup making Caseys girlfriend Courtney to chug the beer inside. Jude roared laughing and gave Stella double high fives, the next shot Jude missed resulting in Stella punching his shoulder. Courtney smirked and tossed her ball landing in their cup, Jude looked over at Stella “It has your name written on it” he mocked. Stella shot a dodgy smile and quickly chugged down the contents of the cup and wiped off the beer from her bottom lip. Jude bit his lip slightly and grinned, Courtney tossed it back once more but missed giving Stella the next round. Several shots later Stella drank their final cup with wobbly hands, she held her hand high as she dropped the empty cup on the floor, “oh no we lost” she giggled and looked over at Forty who cheered on their last match. She beamed at Forty being grateful he’s not scolding her like Zoey would but instead flashed her a cheerful thumbs-up. Stella noticed Jude’s hand on her back forgetting he placed it there a while back, She and Jude walked away from the beer pong table laughing.  
*  
Stella sat on the porch holding her sore stomach, “I am going to have amazing abs if I keep laughing” she slurred with tears running from her eyes, Jude wiped away rogue tears and laughed with her. “I can’t believe the summer is almost over” he looked up at the sky drowning out the music coming from the inside. Stella agreed and sighed, “I’ve never been to your house before” she hiccupped. Jude gazed silently at the sky, Stella nudged Jude for a response “Hey” her expression dropped. Jude inhaled sharply, “I still live with my parents”  
oh” she responded and fumbled with her shoelace, “That’s okay” She smiled up at him and poked him playfully. “We should go to your house and smoke some weed” She giggled and stood up. Jude hesitated for a second, “Sure”  
Stella pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to both Zoey and Forty stating she was heading to Jude’s and not to worry.  
*  
“Are your parents going to be up?” Stella asked nervously, “Probably, they don’t mind us smoking though” She followed Jude to his doorstep before coming to a halt, “My parents and their way of living is very different then what most people are used to” Jude held her shoulders, “I won't judge” she assured firmly and followed behind him. “Who’s there?” A woman called out from the kitchen, Stella gazed around the cluttered living room taking in the mess covering the entire wooden flooring. “It’s me ma, I brought Stella over” He shouted and scuffed through the path leading to the kitchen. The trail sliced through the piles of trash, Stella looked up seeing the trash pile up nearly to the ceiling towering over her. Her anxiety began bubbling inside her chest, Stella dodged staring into the black sink as they entered the kitchen. His mother sat at the kitchen table eating a bagel and wrapping her hair in pink curlers, “Jude you should’ve told me you were having a girl over and I would’ve look nicer” She lectured and waggled her hand at him causing her fat on her arm to ripple back to her body. He looked down at the filthy kitchen tiles, “Stella this is my mom Cynthia” Stella looked at his mother and smiled, Cynthia beamed “You brought a nice one back for once, Jude” she clapped. “Jude has mentioned you but I thought you’d run away before I’d get to meet you” she snarked.  
Jude rolled his eyes, “ Stella and I are going to go smoke in my room” He cut her off and began walking the path to his room. Stella stood there for a moment, “It was nice meeting you Cynthia” She smiled and followed behind Jude.


	12. Dim lights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made this chapter a little longer, I am warning you there will be an INTENSE sex scene that will take up the majority of this chapter. I made the scene longer to make up for how long I've made you all wait. If you aren't ready for a graphic scene then you might wanna skip this chapter :)

Stella accompanied Jude into his bedroom taking notice of how incredibly clean and simple it was, his bed had a black comforter and grey under sheets, a side table, a desk with a matching chair, and a rug. His walls were bare and his floor was clean, “Your room is so neat” Stella flickered with the lonely lamp on his wooden desk. He nodded, “I don’t like materialism” and cracked his window before sitting on his bed. Stella leaned over untying her shoes unaware that her low neck shirt revealed her cleavage. Jude noticed quickly and locked eyes with her chest watching them jiggle slightly as she placed her shoes by the door, “I brought several stuff, I’m not sure how often you smoke” She trailed as she unzipped her bag and fished out the contents. “I don’t smoke weed often” He replied watching her layout a rolling pan, grinder, several grams of weed, and rolling paper. “You don’t have to worry about my mom, my dad should be picking her up and hour” He looked at his watch, “She usually rides with him when he drives his semi” Her added and looked at her. She sat on the floor in front of Jude and began packing her grinder with the devils' lettuce, his eyes locking with her visible cleavage showing.  
As she spun the grinder back and forth, her chest bounced causing Jude to squirm, “I hope you like it packed” She snickered and filled the joint paper. Jude smirked taking her comment sexually and climbed off his bed sitting next to her as she ignited the joint. She breathed deeply and smiled slightly as the smoke drifted off her lips and disappearing into the air, she glanced over and Jude and offered the joint to him, he stared at her wondering how someone can look so hot smoking. He held the joint between his thumb and index finger and placed in between his pink lips, the tip grew hot as he sucked deeply on the joint burning his throat and lungs. He blew and choked moments later into a coughing fit, he held the joint between her lips as she handed him her bottle of water.  
“You can keep it” She smiled and patted out the grey ashes outside his window, “How do you make it look so attractive” His husky voice scratched. She laughed, “Practice” she winked and blew O’s that wobbled before dying out. She gave it back to him and he hit it with less eagerness feeling his body be relieved of stress, he cracked a smile as he handed it back to her. She giggled as he matched her back and forth, “You can have the last hit” He gave the small joint back to her and laid back on the floor staring at his ceiling fan. She took one final hit and snubbed out the roach, “I’ll leave you the roach in case you want to take a few more hits” Jude rubbed his eyes, for a second he was sure the smoke spelled out what she just said. She laughed and laid back with him, “You feeling alright Hollywood?” She asked with a wide grin. He howled laughing, ‘I’m better then alright, that’s for sure” he had a permanent smile stained on his face. Stella nodded, “Good, I like smoking weed” she rolled over looking at Jude.  
“I think I like her too” He giggled and sat up with her, “I like to dim the lights when I get high” She admitted and wiggled her toes. Jude stood up and turned his lights off and turned on his lamp, “Too much LED hurts” She admitted swaying slightly. She often would get migraines lasting for days which is what caused her to start smoking in the first place. She first started smoking when she was 15 behind her parents back with one of her cousins and would often stay the night just to do so. Her cousin had normal parents and went to a public school, unlike Stella who was homeschooled and was only friends with her neighbors.  
Jude and Stella sat chilling in his room laughing about stupid things, “I just want to apologize about what happened at the dance” His voice stooped low while he fiddled with the string on his shorts. Stella pursed her lips, “It's okay, I probably overreacted. You aren’t even my boyfriend anyways so I should’ve acted like that” Her eyes flickered meeting his gaze, Jude sighed “I guess for me to never kiss another girl again I should be your boyfriend” He smiled cheekily. Stella hummed for a second while playing with a strand of hair, “I don’t ask guys out” She held her face up looking away from Jude. Jude crawled on his hands and knees over to Stella, “Well you leave me no choice but to torture you until you do” He crept and quickly began tickling her sides and holding her down as she squirmed. “Jude! stop!” She squealed and tried pushing him away and laughing, Jude picked her up and tossed her onto his bed before climbing back on top of her, “Make me” he tested and penned both of her arms above her head against his bed with one arm. With the other arm, he continued to tickle her making her thrash her legs and fling her body around like a mad man, “Your so cute when you struggle” He commented giving her a break to catch her breath. Her face was red from laughing, “I’m still not going to ask you!” She shouted with a giggle forming off her words. He stopped tickling her noticing his torturing tactics weren’t effective, instead, he grabbed her waist with his hands giving them a firm grip and gliding his hand over her clothes teasingly. Her face flushed a different shade of red as she felt Jude grab her, she bit her lip and grabbed his face with her hands and kissed his lips.

Their lips collided with such chemical power that Jude couldn’t let go of her again like last time, he lacked the self-control. His hands slid under her shirt making it farther then he was last time and didn’t waste any time going directly to her breast. Jude pulled from the kiss pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it at the other end of his room, Stella stared at his slim but fit torso as he grabbed her face pulling it back to his lips. He hastily grabbed her shirt off and tossed it over the bed with her bra not to far behind. He squeezes her bare breast feeling them overfill his hands, “You’ve got some pretty big breast for a such a small girl” He commented at her well proportioned and perky tits, she giggled slightly feeling embarrassed but didn’t say anything back. His tongue stroked her rosy nipple softly as he massaged her breast hungrily, she moaned as he left large hickeys on her breast and sucked on her nipples. He quickly pulled off his pants only wearing just his boxers, Stella couldn’t help but to stare at the shape of his stiff cock, “Now don’t get too excited” He broke her gaze. She helped him take her pants off also leaving her in her soaked panties, he smirked as he saw how wet she already was. He planted kisses trailing from her breast down to her panties, he teased her slightly kissing her panties before Stella quickly swapped him places.

She could feel her clit pulsating with excitement but she couldn’t give in just yet, she sat in Jude’s lap kissing his lips as he had his arms wrapped around her tightly. She could feel his restricted cock rub against her panties making her even more impatient, “I’ve wanted you so badly” She whispered in his ear and sucked on his earlobe. He moaned softly ‘If we are being honest, I’ve masturbated to the thought of you several times” he sighed heavily as she sucked the skin of his neck leaving purple and red marks to appear. She impulsively pulled off his boxers seeing that they were wet from his precum, before he could look at her she quickly wrapped her lips around his large cock. “Fuck!” He moaned as she ran her tongue around the head of his cock in her mouth, her head bobbed up and down slowly pushing his cock deeper down her throat. She pulled away letting her saliva run down his pulsing cock, “Don’t stop” He cried and yanked her head back down. It didn’t take long before his whole cock was down her throat, he pulled her hair feeling her warm mouth surround his cock “Take your panties off before I do” He groaned with his eyes shut. She hummed slightly with him still in her mouth, Make me” her words nearly inaudible. He chuckled and pulled her off him and tore her panties off, “They were too soaked anyways” He excused tossing them overboard.

“I’m going to eat you out and then fuck your brains out” He clutched her thighs pulling them over his shoulders and began gorging her pussy with his lips, Stella let out a loud whimpering moan as he explored her clit with his wet tongue. “I like how aggressive you are” she placed her hands on his head holding him down. His lips ran up and down her pussy as if she was lip balm, “mhm, you taste so sweet” he muffled with his tongue inside her. She whimpered craving his cock, “fuck me” she shouted hoping he would give in to his lusty desires. He pulled back wiping his lips, “Lay on your stomach” He grabbed her and flipped her body, he grabbed her ass spanking it. He rubbed his cock as he watched his handprint on her ass stain her sweet skin, “I hope you like things rough” He positioned himself at the opening of her pussy and slid in wiggling halfway. He let out a moan, “Fuck, you’re so tight” He struggled to fit himself in, he settled with half his cock in her and began thrusting slowly gaining speed. Stella’s moans were muffled by his pillow as he began thrusting his cock in and out of her. He pulled her hair back causing her head to list from the pillow.

“I want you to say my name” He shouted pounding into her harder, he spanked her ass while she cried out his name. “Fuck me harder Jude!” She moaned feeling his hand rubbing her clitoris in circular motions. “I’m gonna cum so much in you and make you lay in it” His hand rested on her ass as he pounded into her harder, his bed creaked with each thrust making him grin widely. Her legs quivered as she could felt as though she was going to burst, Jude I’m about to-“ She was cut off by him wrapping his hands around her mouth, simultaneously as their worlds collided, they both came. His cock clenched as his sweet seed erupted deep inside her throbbing pussy, “fuuuuuck” He moaned forcing his cock deeper. She let out a huge sigh of relief as she finished climaxing, Jude drew his cock out of her watching his cum dripping down her thighs. He stood catching his breath, “Will you be my girlfriend?” He asked as she stood up, she smiled “Yes”


	13. Curling Iron

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter I will be switching to Jude's perspective. I will let you all know when I will be switching, I hope it's not too confusing. Anyway, thank you all for reading, and don't forget to kudos, bookmark, and comment! :)  
> Thanks.

Jude and Stella arrived at the police department and sat next to other people who attended the party last night and waited. She looked over at Jude who rested his head on his hands with his eyes closed, “Are you tired?” She asked and rubbed his back. He rested his head on her shoulder and nodded, “After this, I’ll show you something cool” She smiled.  
After waited what felt like forever an officer pulled Stella into a small room, “Take a seat anywhere” The male officer spoke and pulled several sheets of paper out from the printer tray. The officer sat in the chair opposite from Stella and laid the stack of paper on the table, “My name is Officer Johnson, what’s your first and last name?” He held his pen in his left hand looking at Stella for a response. Stella sat up, “Stella Addams” She replied and glued her lips shut. She didn’t want to over talk and annoy him, he squabbled her name down on a blank sheet of paper “Were you at the party that Ingrid Flaherty hosted last night?” He asked ready to write down whatever she says. Stella felt nervous around police officers and hates talking to them, “Yes” she replied and received a cold glare from Officer Johnson, “You seem like a smart girl, did you see anything suspicious last night?” He leaned back in his chair crossing his arms over his chest. Stella's face flushed, “Not that I know of, I left the party early and spent the night at my boyfriends” She replied and rubbed over her fingernails with her finger. The officer scribbled more on his sheet of paper, “Who is your boyfriend, and what did you do when you were at the party?” He asked. Stella rubbed her throbbing head, “I came with my friend Forty Montgomery and we separated and I looked around her house at their family photos then I played beer pong with my boyfriend Jude Bowen, his friends Casey and Courtney” She pushed her hair behind her ears locking eye contact with the officer. The officer raised a brow, “I guess you don’t know what happen, I assume” Stella nodded in response. He sat up with his elbows on the table, “Courtney Uris body was found last night in the woods behind the Flaherty’s home, when did you last see Courtney?” He leaned closer to Stella. Stella sat there gasping, she couldn’t believe Courtney was the girl who was killed, “When we played beer pong, Jude and I decided to head over to his house after Courtney and Casey won the game of beer pong” she thought back to the fuzzy memory from last night. He hmphed, “So you didn’t see her and her boyfriend for the rest of the night?” He asked flipping through his papers organizing them, Stella caught a short glimpse of the dark photo barely making out Courtney’s distorted body. He stopped catching her staring at his papers, “Ms. Addams?” he broke her gaze, she shook her head feeling her hair move between her shoulders. Her legs shook under the table as he stood up, “Okay, that’s all Ms. Addams, thank you for coming here. If we need anything else we will contact you” He shook her hand as she hurried out of the cold room and to Jude who was sitting in a different chair.  
“You alright?” He asked and followed her out of the police department. She hurried onto the sidewalk letting her hair flow forcefully behind her, “Stella hold on!” he grabbed her soft hand breaking her from her thoughts, “Her body Jude! I saw it!” She cried, “She was mangled laying with her eyes open” She buried her face into his chest feeling a wave of guilt for not being there to save her. Jude stood holding her feeling her fragile body shake aggressively, “Shh” he cooed before pulling away. Her cheeks stained with tears, he stared into her eyes that began to redden and wiped a rogue tear with his thumb, “I’m sorry you saw that” He told her not knowing what else to say. She sniffed, “It's alright” She used her sleeve to soak up her wet face, “Want to come over to my place?” She asked. Stella didn’t feel like going to Winston, she just wanted to crawl in bed and think about last night.  
*  
“Hey” Stella announced herself as she and Jude came through the front door, Zoey peaked out from the kitchen “How did it go with the police?” She asked then glanced over at Jude, “Oh hey Jude, did the vacuum get you?” She smirked looking over at Stella who also appeared to have been attacked by a vacuum. Jude smirked leaning against the wall, “No, I was actually using a curling iron” He walked past her and into the kitchen pouring himself a glass of milk. Zoey frowned in disgust, “Your hair isn’t even curly” she mumbled and sat next to Stella on the couch. Zoey's eyes flickered up and down surveying the hickeys Jude left on Stella, “Anyways, it went alright. Turns out both Jude and I played beer pong with the girl who died last night” She sighed and leaned her head back exhaling loudly. Jude chugged the glass of milk and placed the glass in the sink, “Oh shit, do you know who did it?” She leaned in ignoring the wads of paper that Jude was tossing at her head. Stella shook her head, “They think her boyfriend might’ve done it but I’m not sure” She glared at Jude causing him to hit her in the forehead with the paper. He chuckled and went back into the kitchen leaving them alone, Zoey leaned back against the calico pillows “Forty said they are talking about it in his Criminal Justice club”  
“Oh yeah? Did he say if they have any other suspects or information?” Stella leaned forward fiddling with the stray thread on her shirt, “Actually he said that the police department is trying to connect the DNA found under the first girl's nails to suspects” She replied. Jude ears perked and he came out holding several Oreos, “How do they do that? Won't they find the girl's DNA?” He asked and sat on the floor munching on the cookies. Zoey shrugged her shoulders, “I’m not sure, they probably were unsuccessful if it's taken this long” Stella agreed with her, “God, I just hope they catch whoever it is soon” She stood up and stretched. Zoey nodded, “Or them” She added.  
*  
Jude sat on Stella’s bed, “Your room is better when your not outside it” He laughed and laid across her bed. Zoey left an hour ago to see her parents in Utah for the week leaving Stella to hold down the fort, Zoey told Stella she wasn’t allowed to go anywhere alone or else she would kill her. Stella budded out her cigarette and tossed it out her window before kneeling in front of Jude seductively, Jude lifted his head looking at Stella who began to unbuckle his pants. He smirked and laid his head back relaxing, her fingered pulled away at his zipper and slid his jeans to the floor along with his boxers, “Take your shirt off” She ordered and tossed his clothes. Jude listened and tossed his shirt away with hers and laid his head back waiting for her lips to connect with the head of his cock, Stella licked his cock teasingly. She felt proud knowing that his cock was already hard before taking her shirt off, “mhmm” Jude moaned feeling her mouth scale down the shaft of his cock and back. Her breast bounced in her bra and she rubbed his throbbing member with her small hands, Judes body twitched every time she glided over the head of his penis. He grabbed her head and forced it down on his cock and grabbed her hair making her look at him, “You dirty girl” His voice deepened. “Take your bra off and let me see your tits bounce as you ride my cock” He ordered and grabbing her. She giggled and slipped out of her clothes and positioned herself on top of him, she lowered herself on his cock feeling him spread her pussy apart. She let out a loud moan and began grinding against him, she placed her hand on his chest speeding up her pace. His hands wrapped around her waist forcing her down harder on his cock, “Fuck Stella, I need you to go faster” He cried and her breast bounced in his face. She listened and bounced on his cock faster hearing his moaned grow louder, “I want you to cum in me” She whimpered feeling her body become overwhelmed with pleasure. He forced her waist down with his hands feeling his warm cum leave his throbbing cock, his head rolled back as his body flexed showing his abs, she bit her lip feeling his cum fill her up.  
*  
She puffed from her cigarette as Jude snored softly next to her, she was lost deep in thought. Her mind ran rapidly thinking about the night at the party and who could’ve killed Courtney, she thought back to all the guys that could’ve taken advantage of her. She wondered if all of the girls struggled and if what Forty said was true, that the police were testing the DNA under the girl's nails. She picked underneath her nails nervously thinking about how she has Jude’s DNA under her nails from her scratching his back during sex. Her mind raced to the thought that she could be killed, she was pretty enough she thought, and ran her hands through her long hair. She now understands why her mother moved from Seattle to Ohio, she was afraid of Ted Bundy. Did Ted Bundy really die 5 years ago? She asked herself. She chuckled out loud, “Of course he did” she mumbled to herself feeling like an idiot. Jude mumbled in his sleep scaring Stella, he laid his arm over her torso still snoring, she rolled over trying to force out the thoughts that anyone could be a murder.


	14. PsychoKiller

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, at last, the moment we have all been waiting for.  
> Yes, this will be a graphic chapter and it does jump back to the night of the party. Also, don't forget that this chapter is Jude's perspective. With that being said, I hope you all enjoy the chapter :)

JUDE PERSPECTIVE

Jude slithered out of his bedroom leaving Stella fast asleep in his bed, he was glad she accepted his offer of a glass of water that had a sleep aid in it. His bag sat conveniently beside the front door before he picked it up hurling it over his shoulder and sat a timer on his watch to go over at 4:37 am. He closed the front door softly behind him and hastily jumped on his bike, and popped in his earbuds. He swayed his bike back and forth as he listened to his personal mixtape, after 20 minutes he placed his bike against a large maple tree in the woods. He glanced up seeing Ingrid's party was still happening, he smirked “Idiots, maybe if they were home someone wouldn’t be dead” His beanie and sunglasses hid him well as he approached the back of the house, he cracked his knuckled feeling adrenaline pulse within his veins.  
He squatted behind a bush as he saw Courtney run behind the house holding her head sobbing, Jude smirked and sat eagerly waiting. She wept heavily in her hands and leaned against the brick house, he paused his cassette player leaving the song ‘Abracadabra” by the Steve Miller band waiting for his return. He crept up to Courtney who was sitting on the ground sobbing, “Hey, are you okay?” He asked and stooped down next to her, her head shot up “Oh, it's you” She mumbled. Her eyes filled with tears, “Are you alright?” Jude pressed and placed his hand on her shoulder removing his sunglasses, she rubbed her heavy eyes and shook her head. She hiccupped, “ I saw Casey with Ingrid” her voice shuddered, Jude frowned. He didn’t feel sorry for her, she was a whore and everyone knew it but he had to tell her what she wanted to hear, “I’m sorry, Casey is an ass” He replied rubbing her shoulder. She looked up to him, “Thanks” She hiccupped, they stared at each other for a moment before she leaned in kissing him. His hand tilted her chin up deepening the kiss, she stood up feeling him press her against the wall, “What about Stella?” he pulled away. He stared at her, “You could be with someone better like me, I won’t tell her if you don’t” She smirked, “It’ll be our secret” she added, her tears faded away as her desires take over her, Jude felt anger bubble inside him as he thought about how disrespectful she was towards Stella. He knew Courtney didn’t respect Stella and if she didn’t respect Stella then she didn’t respect anyone and it frustrated him. “We should go in the woods, in case someone sees us” He looked over at the dark woods and back down to his watch, she nodded and followed him deep into the woods.

He pressed her against the tree fumbling with her one breast while his other hand was searching in his pocket, “Do you have a condom?” She muffled in between his lips, Jude nodded “That’s what I’m grabbing right now babe” he miffed and pulled out a silicone ball gag. His wide eager eyes beamed at her closed eyelids as she tried forcing her tongue in his mouth, using both of his hands he pulled the silicone gag up to her face “I like things rough, is it alright if I put this around your mouth? It helps me get off” he showed her the gag. She hesitated but nodded, “Only because I want to be the best fuck you’ll ever have” she winked. He chuckled, dumb bitch he thought, and fastened the straps around her head tightening it more than she expected. Her eyebrows furrowed noticing he didn’t grab his condom, her voice muffled asking what he was doing, he took his bag off his shoulder and searched his duct tape. She stood there waiting for him hoping he was looking for a condom, instead, he stretched out his duct tape “Remember, you want to be my best fuck” he tore off her clothes and began binding her arms together, she winced slightly, “that’s a little tight” she whimpered behind the gag. He ignored her and wrapped her legs together tossing off her heels, “get on your knees” he demanded. She giggled faced away from him while he grabbed the photo he had of Stella. He wrapped a condom around his cock and shoved his cock inside her making her grunt loudly in pain, he slapped her ass as hard as he could nearly knocking her over.

He began hammering into her while moaning out Stella’s name, Courtney yelled at him behind the gag, “Shut up you whore” he shouted and slapped her ass as his hand began to sting. Courtney muffled at him to slow down and that he was hurting her but he disregarded her while staring at the photo of Stella sleeping. His cock banged into her cervix making her cry out in pain, it didn’t take him long to cum in his condom. He slipped the used condom off and into a zip lock baggy he brought and tossed it into the bag, “Now, what we’ve all been waiting for” He flipped her over on her back and zipped his pants back up. She laid naked crying covered in the dirt, he grabbed the knife he had in his back and began carving into her skin. She screamed feeling the blade slice through the bottom of her breast, warmblood streamed down her stomach before dripping off onto the grass below her. He nearly forgot to press play on his cassette, he skipped the current song and smirked when ‘Psychokiller’ by Talking Heads began thumping in his headphones. Courtney cried begging him to stop, “I just started babe” the song began to drowned out her cries as he began hurling the blade into her stomach, “Stella shouldn’t be hurt by whores like you” He grunted as with each thrust her blood pour out from behind the silicon gag and out of her mouth. The knife pierced through her chest splattering her blood everywhere, she sputtered behind the gag choking on her own blood. Stabbing her chest Jude smiled knowing he penetrated her lungs, “I should’ve killed you slower” he twirled the blade pulling it out of her rib cage. The sounds of Courtney's screams withered away as the sound of the knife stabbing her lifeless body filled the air around them. He pulled his knife up one last time before hurling it into her face splattering blood over her porcelain skin, “That’ll teach you” he panted and trimmed off a piece of her dusky hair and placed it in a new zip-lock bag.  
He unhooked the gag from her mouth and wiped the blood off on the grass, he kicked her body with his boots and left her. He quickly ran back to his bike and kicked off peddling off into the dark leaving the house and body behind. His breathing stalled as he successfully escaped off into the black night.  
*  
Jude parked his car on the side of his house and removed his blood-stained shirt and stuffed it in the woodpile. He shook slightly as the cold night pierced his skin like his knife that stabbed Courtney to death. He went directly to the hot shower removing his remaining clothes, he stared at himself in the bathroom mirror noticing the scratches and hickeys left by Stella, and smirked. He hopped in the hot shower purging his body from the deeds that had to be done, he turned the water as hot as it can go feeling his skin scorch him red like a lobster. He knew this had to be done, or else he was still dirty in his mind. He grabbed the thick unmerciful bristle brush and began scrubbing his skin raw, he winced feeling the hot water hit his exposed skin but kept scrubbing away. The shower ran cold signifying that his ritual was complete, he sat in the cold water for several moments mentally ‘erasing’ his memory of ruthlessly stabbing Courtney.  
He stepped onto his bathroom rug patting his soft skin with his towel before changing back into his pajamas. He gazed at his reflection one last time before snaking back in bed with Stella who was still deep in sleep.


	15. Ophelia

Over the next several months, Stella and Jude have been inseparable and things have been going well for Stella except for her friendship with Forty. Zoey nagged Stella to meet up with Forty to ‘work things out’ but Stella has been too stubborn to do so. Zoey was glad that Jude finally got a job a few weeks ago so Stella and Zoey would have more time together and of course her apartment back. “Maybe Jude working is a good thing” Zoey curled her hair standing in front of the mirror, “I guess so” Stella laid on the floor. She had started to feel lonely again, “Well at least now you can go back to painting instead of fucking every day” Zoey sprayed a heavy coat of aqua net over her curls. Stella rolled her eyes, “It's not every day” She corrected lifting her head from the carpet, “Okay, every other day” Zoey yanked the curler from the outlet and shoved it back underneath the bathroom cabinet. Zoey paced slightly, “Do you think Jude’s intentions of being with you are selfish?” She blurted. Stella sat up furrowing her eyebrows, “What are you trying to say” She jabbed feeling her heart rate increase. Zoey sat next to her on the floor, “What I’m trying to say is do you think Jude is only with you because he obsessed with you and is always craving sex?” Zoey's words were beginning to sound true. Stella has been complaining to Zoey for the last few weeks about how Jude is always wanting sexual favors or sex and never can keep his hands off her. Stella shook her head protesting, “It's just a guy thing!” her voice pitched. Zoey crossed her arms over her shoulders, “Okay then why does he have such an issue with you hanging out with anyone but himself?” Her voice fell dull and her expression changed.  
  
Stella stood up, “He doesn’t, he is just looking out for me” She bit her lip feeling anger boiling inside her chest. “You don’t know what we talk about when it's just him and I” She charged out of the room and to her room, Zoey followed behind her. “I can make a good guess, usually you are telling him how good his cock feels while he spanks your ass” She clicked her tongue leaning on the doorframe of Stella’s room. Stella clenched her fist fuming, “Your just jealous because you haven’t had an actual boyfriend since high school!” She screamed ignoring the piece of herself that told her she was overreacting and that she needed to calm down. Her therapist popped back into her head again, “Breathe” Stella stammered feeling as if smoke was trailing out of her ears. “Fuck off!” She shouted at the voice making it shrink back down deep inside her, Zoey stared at Stella while she frantically searched her old jeans, “Are you seriously looking for your cigarettes? You only started smoking because of him!” She shouted back scoffing. Stella neglected her feeling as if she was going to explode, luckily she found the pack in her jeans from yesterday. Stella didn’t hesitate to immediately lite the soothing cigarette, “I’m only saying these things because I care about you!” Zoey’s voice quivered as she watched Stella pathetically suck down the cold cigarette. Stella grabbed her bag and began packing it with clothes, “No Zoey, no one has ever cared about me except Jude, not even the cult my family was in!” veins protruded from the sides of Stella’s neck. Zoey opened her mouth to say something but opted not to as Stella shoved past her walking out the front door, Zoey turned her head watching Stella storm off.  
A rogue tear streamed down Zoey’s face as she realized that Stella was relapsing, her best friend was crumbling all over again. Zoey dipped her head shamefully, “How can I be so stupid?” She spat and slid down the wall, “I should’ve seen the signs” She mumbled wiping away the tear.  
  
*  
Stella laid on the wooden planks of the treehouse burning a chain of cigarettes, tears gushed off the side of her face landing in her hair. Screams of her neighbors that lived in the apartment complex next to her community began to flood her mind reminding her of that night. Stella was only 12 when the cult community her family was part of attacked their neighbors killing them. Her parents joined a cult when Stella was only two years old, the Greenleaf cult was disreputable for their erratic therapy and beliefs, they were a polymerous cult that didn’t believe in exclusive relationships unless permitted. Many members of the cult would pass away due to neglect and everyone believed their deaths were not in vain for the lord had ended their suffering giving more growth to other members. Stella looked after the young children while the adults were in their therapy sessions or meetings with other preteen leaders. Stella and her parents escaped after the mass ‘sacrifices’ the cult performed on their next-door neighbors. Stella’s head throbbed with echoing screams as she felt a wave of remanences splash over her body, flashes of her watching children and teens stabbing innocent women flickered through her eyes.  
  
The cigarette between her lips began to fade as she found herself standing on the carpet soaked in blood. Stella peered down her small hands, warm blood drip from her hands onto and her shoes before rolling off onto the carpet, her hands remained astonishingly steady as the adrenaline throbbed in her veins. She glanced to her right seeing the little girl she looked after stabbing a baby, “Ophelia!” Stella crouched down grabbing Ophelia off the dead baby. Ophelia glanced up to Stella with swollen eyes, “I-I had to” she shuddered feeling ashamed. Before Stella could respond a grown man stuck Ophelia in the back with a knife piercing through her childish body, Stella let out a blood-curdling shriek as Ophelia toppled over with blood spurting out of the gaping hole in her chest. Stella beamed her head around catching eye contact with the man, “Fuck you!!” She squealed and instinctively grabbed the dagger from her belt. Stella ran the blade smoothly across the man's throat flawlessly as she was taught, his blood squirted effortlessly across Stella’s face and clothes. She stood there holding the blade watching the man wheezing and holding his neck, a boy behind Stella gasped loudly and kneeled next to Ophelia’s body. Stella snapped from her gaze and knelt next to the boy who stared into Ophelia’s dull eyes, “I-I’m sorry” Stella rasped and lowered the dagger. The boy stared at Stella with an expressionless gaze that shot Stella back into her treehouse. Stella laid on the floor wailing uncontrollably, her chest began to curl “I forgot!” She wailed and punched the wooden planks, she wheezed for air as she fought to breathe but slipped into an unwanted sleep.  
  
*  
Stella woke up alone in the dark tree house trembling, her wet tears turned into crust around her puffed eyes. She breathed slowly, a piercing pain sparked in her chest, she stood up collecting her thoughts knowing what she had to do to subdue them. She wandered to her small garden and began picking the strawberries that were left from the summer and held them in her shirt. Leaves trickled down from the trees around her as she climbed back inside the living room, she grabbed out her large canvas out from her painting cupboard. She grabbed her paint set and sat on the floor surrounding herself with the plump strawberries. With the nails she began to pierce through the strawberries oozing their sweet reddish-pink juice onto the canvas, she did this for the next few hours. Stella resorted to throwing the strawberries against the canvas splattering its guts across the stained paper, she yelled as she tossed her final strawberry and fell to her knees as it slid down the canvas before streaming down to the floor. Stella sobbed in her hands that were covered in paint and strawberries, she lower lip quivered as she wiped her hand across her face. A small knock appeared at the door causing Stella to flinch, “Forty?!” She gasped. Forty walked in quietly staring at Stella, he had never seen her so broken, “Are you okay?” His soft voice soothed her soul. “I’m fine” she hiccupped and laid her face against his chest. He hesitated for a moment and placed his hand on her back, “Your not fine” He pulled her closer to him and gave her trembling body a reassuring squeeze. Stella wailed loudly against his chest and released the nails she had in her hands letting them fall to the floor, “I was so mean to Zoey” She muffled. Forty rubbed her back, “Did you remember again?” He asked her, Zoey had told Forty about Stella’s past when they first met. Stella nodded quietly, “Everything is going to be okay” He stroked his hands through her silky hair, since the day Zoey told him about Stella’s family he had sworn to keep her safe but deep down inside his chest he felt that he didn’t know how to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I had to do this to Stella. Y'all will understand later.


	16. Rope

Jude tapped on the door frame of the treehouse stirring Forty from his sleep on the floor, “Morning” Jude strolled inside the treehouse and sat in the rocking chair by the couch. Forty sat up nervously, he hasn’t actually spoken to Jude before because of how intimidating he seemed “Morning” Forty shuffled to the kitchen brewing instant coffee. Jude stood up coolly following behind Forty, “So you’re Forty right?” Jude bobbed out his pack of cigarettes from his pocket. Forty looked over his shoulder, “Yes” He answered stirring the hot water, “Want some coffee?” He asked. Jude shook his head, “Oh, no I don’t like coffee” He dragged on his cigarette. “Why did you stay the night with my girlfriend?” Jude emitted grey smoke into the air blowing it away. Forty gulped feeling his face burn with heat, “Zoey told me she wasn’t doing alright so I came here to check on her” He replied stirring the coffee into his and Stella’s cup with his back facing Jude. Forty held the mugs masking his trembling hands, “Hmh, Zoey should’ve called me. Anyways, I’d rather you not hang out with my girlfriend anymore” He folded his arms over his chest leaning against the counter-top. Forty stood quietly thinking of a response, “Stella is my friend, nothing more” He eventually answered swinging around to look at Jude. Jude sat up and opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by Stella coming into the room, “What’s going on?” she stretched and took the mug from Forty’s hand. Jude scowled over at Forty, “I was just thanking Forty for making me a cup of joe” He grabbed the mug from his hand and gave him a menacing smirk. “Oh,” She replied and thanked Forty for making her a cup, Forty stood in the kitchen as he watched Jude walk back with Stella in the living room, he groaned and grabbed the box of instant coffee and remade his cup. Jude glared at the framed photos of Stella, Zoey, and Forty that were hung along the wall, envy began to spike within his chest “I like your pictures” He commented pointing at the group photo. Stella beamed, “Thank you, Noah took the photos” She pointed at the photo of Noah and Zoey, “They broke up last year” She continued and sipped on her bitter coffee.

Forty appeared from the kitchen several minutes later holding his own mug and sat in the rocking chair listening to Stella and Jude chat. Forty felt jealousy ping inside of him as he watched Jude snake his arm around Stella as they chattered about the photos, he made a smug expression behind their back and took out a book from the bookshelf and began to brush through the pages. Stella was so hooked up in the conversation that she didn’t notice that Forty had left a couple of hours ago, “I didn’t know Forty left” She pouted. Her heart weighed heavy in her chest realizing they accidentally 3rd wheeled him, Jude shrugged “I didn’t know either” He glimpsed around acting as if he didn’t know. She sighed puffing on a cigarette, “I think you’d like Forty, but he is an anxious mess around people he doesn’t know” She chuckled lightly and exhaled. Jude shrugged, “Eh, I don’t like a lot of people. A lot of people are fake” He spat not wanting anything to do with Forty. Stella stared at him blinking, “I think Forty is an honest person, not many people share their genuine emotions” She frowned at him. She could sense his jealousy towards her friendship and closeness with Forty and it bothered her, “That’s what he wants you to think, its because he likes you” He snubbed out his cigarette and clicked his tongue. Stella furrowed her eyebrows, “Are you jealous?” She asked crossing her arms, Jude snickered annoying Stella, “Why would I be?” He said arrogantly, “If anything, he should be jealous if he isn’t already” He sat manspreading.

Stella let out a surprised laugh, “You can be such an ass sometimes” She remarked and stood up grabbing the hair tie on the table. “What did you say?” He stood up walking over to her watching her as she tossed her hair into a loose bun. She whipped her head around, “I said you can be such an ass sometimes” She hissed and crossed her arms. With a devilish grin he leaned closer to her, “I like it when you get angry” and kissed her neck, she pushed him away “But I mean it” She protested. He grasped her waist, “Push me away again babe and see what happens” He smirked a smirk that made her want to punch his face. She struck his chest instead pushing him away, “Stop it, Jude! I’m not in the mood” She rolled her eyes and stomped off. He hunted after her, “You’re not going anywhere” He pushed her against the pillar of the treehouse knocking the breath out of her. She gasped, “Jude!!” She shouted as he began to smother her neck in kisses, “I said fuck off!” She shoved him away again but he held onto her. Irritation replaced her annoyance as he wouldn’t take his hands off her, he trailed kisses from her neck and down to her stomach. He unbuttoned her pants forcefully as she tried forcing him away, he glimpsed up at her angry face before pulling her pants off of her “Jude, I will seriously kick your face in” She gritted through her teeth. “I’ll just wipe my face off so you can have a clean seat” he smirked and picked her up carrying her to the other room. She gasped loudly realizing what she said and blushed, “I-I” she strumbled, Jude smirked biting his lip, and pushed the mat near a wooden pillar with his foot. He tossed her onto the mat with a thump and pounced on her, “Aw, you have pillars in here for me” He growled and scrambled for the rope in his bag.

She stared at him confused if she is mad at him or controlled by him, he clutched the rope and winked at her before tying her arms up against the pillar. Her heart pounded loudly in her chest as he began to trail kisses to her lower half, she let out a soft moan as he taunted her along her thighs, “Are you still mad at me baby?” He asked as he slid his tongue over her clitoris. She moaned and nodded, “Good” He muffled between her thighs and dived in making her legs quiver, he slid his fingers into her as he took off his clothes. “While I fuck the living out of you I want you to tell me how mad you are at me” He growled and rammed his cock inside her. His hands held onto her thighs as he thrust, “Aren’t you mad at me?!” He shouted at her. She moaned, “Y-yes I’m sorry” She stuttered, he furrowed his eyebrows and rolled his hips deeper into hers “NO!” He yelled at her, “I’m the one who should be sorry, I’ve been terrible to you” He moaned. She bit her lip, “You have been such an asshole to me!” She shouted at him making him tilt his head back swearing. She felt weird and uncomfortable with his request but she couldn’t stop or she would feel bad, he spanked her ass “I want you to hit me” He sucked on her neck. She hesitated and slapped him, “Harder!” He barked at her making her wince slightly. She slapped him harder feeling her hand tingled from the impact, he bit his lip “Fuuck” he whined and gripped her thighs forcibly coming inside her. He laid on her chest for a moment before stepping out of her, “I’ll get cleaned up” She stood up and shuffled to the other room. He laid on the bed with his eyes closed breathing heavily slowly fell asleep. * Stella sat on the couch sipping another cup of coffee, her mind choked on the idea of wanting to take space from Jude. Her chest felt heavy, she did not like what happened in the bedroom earlier and it made her uncomfortable, she sighed sipping on her pumpkin-shaped mug. She felt hesitant to tell him that she needed space but she knew she had to tell him, she hasn’t felt herself lately and it worried her. Jude shuffled into the living room with his hair spiked in all sorts of directions, “How long was I asleep for?” He grumbled and sat on the rug. Stella sat her cup down, “Almost two hours” She replied feeling uneasiness catch in her throat, Jude shrugged “Oh” they sat in silence for a moment. “Can we talk?” She quietly asked breaking the silence, she was dreading this conversation. Jude faced her, “What's wrong?” He asked with a troubled expression, “Lately I feel I've lost myself” She fumbled with her nails, “And I was thinking that we should take a break for a bit” She trailed feeling her hands tremble. Jude gazed intensely at her face, “What do you mean by taking a break? Couples don’t take breaks, they break up” his voice hinted towards being angry with her, her eyes swelled with tears, “I- I don’t want to break up, I just need time to myself” Her voice cracked.

She loves Jude but he made her feel like she has forgotten who she was and was pulling her away from her friends, “Then what do you actually want Stella? Because I don’t want to sit around getting my feelings hurt because you aren’t sure what you want” He spat. Stella felt her voice shrivel down hiding behind her, “I-uh” She stammered feeling her cheeks raise with heat, she didn’t know what she wanted and it confused her. Jude stood up, “You know what, forget it Stella” He began climbing down the wooden planks of the tree, she sat on the couch silently crying. Her heart throbbed feeling as if it was stomped on by a pair of Dr.Marten's boots, “I’m sorry” she whispered.


	17. Popcorn

Stella chuffed out smoke and half-laughed, half-choked at the remark Zoey made towards the cover of the ‘Two Virgins’ album by John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono. Stella rubbed her fingers together feeling the grainy old dust crumble beneath her fingers, her and Zoey decided to spend the rest of their day browsing a thrift store. Stella was wearing a turtle neck underneath her dark brown striped sweater that was tucked in her baggy jeans secured by a belt, the days reverted to bitter mornings and nights. “Do you like this shirt? It makes me feel like I should be in a bowling tournament” She giggled and put the striped button shirt back on the rack. Stella smirked and browsed through the furniture section looking at the sunken loveseats and orange velvet bar stools, “Stella?” a voice whispered behind her. Stella nearly jumped out of her sweater, “Jesus Christ!” She shouted. She huffed holding her chest, “Noah?! What are you doing here?” she harshly whispered trying not to grab Zoey's attention. He bent his head down, “I work here” his eyes darted in the direction of Zoey but luckily she was too busy searching for a belt to see that Stella was hiding behind the large back of a couch. “I haven’t seen you in so long” She reminisced staring into his expressive caramel eyes, he chuckled, “I saw you all come in but I knew if Zoey saw me she would immediately leave” His eyes flickered at the ground then back at Stella. Stella bit her lip thinking, “That’s true, but maybe if I pretended like I didn’t see you and went over to talk to you she wouldn’t leave” she whipped her head around searching for Zoey.  
He nodded, “That could work” He stood up quickly running the opposite direction of the couch. Stella giggled, Noah and Zoey were together for years but she broke up with him last year when she began to develop feelings for someone else, needless to say, Zoey and the other guy didn’t work out. Stella roamed back over to Zoey and flipped through the discounted tank tops, Stella gasped “Is that Noah?!” he whispered causing Zoey to immediately search around for him. Ever since Zoey dumped him she had been avoiding him, “We should leave” She grabbed Stella’s cold hand, “I want to say hi” She frowned and dragged Zoey instead. Zoey barely fought back as they approached Noah, “Hey Noah” Stella smiled realizing her plan worked, “Oh hey” he closed the price book and matched eye contact with Zoey. Her cheeks flushed and she quickly looked down at her feet, “Hi” She mumbled stiffing her hands in her coat pocket. Noah glanced at Zoey who glanced back at Zoey, “What have you been up to lately?” Stella asked, she tried getting them back together after they broke up but Zoey refused to see or talk to him.  
Stella was impressed that Zoey managed to cut him out of her life very quickly without hesitation and never speak about him, “School and working” he chuckled staring at Zoey who still wouldn’t make eye contact. “We were actually going to have a movie night at our place tonight and Forty will be there, you should come” She grinned knowing Zoey was going to destroy her later for inviting him over. Noah rocked on his heels momentarily, “Yeah that sounds like fun” he grinned from ear to ear.  
*  
Stella lit another cigarette as they walked down the cracked sidewalk that was covered in crunchy leaves, “Why would you do that” She rolled her eyes fuming, “Oh that reminds me, I need to call Forty” She held the cigarette between her lips with a smirk. “Hey, want to come over and have a movie night?” she snuffed out the cigarette, “Yeah, also Noah will be there” she replied to Forty and watched Zoey fumble with the apartment lock. Zoey listened to Forty muffled voice, Stella nodded with a hum and ended the call tossing her phone back into her pocket “He said he will bring popcorn” Stella kicked off her shoes and picked up around the living room. Zoey huffed, “Fine, but I won't have a good time” she began folding several blankets placing them over the side of the couch.  
Stella wandered back to her room and tossed a few dirty socks in her hamper, she opened her side drawer and her eyes paused staring at the polaroid photo of her and Jude laughing at the party they went to several months ago. She grabbed the photo and stuffed it deep in the drawer, she looked down realizing her vibrator wasn’t in its place. She furrowed her brows looking around for it, “Forty is here!” Zoey shouted from the hall making Stella quickly slam her drawer shut. She scrambled up to see Forty standing in her doorway, “Hey” He mumbled feeling awkward. She pulled her hair behind her ear, “Hey” She replied. It has been almost two weeks since she last Forty at Winston and she felt bad for him leaving, “Noah should be here soon” She walked past him and into the living room. Forty stood in the doorway for a moment before following behind her, “I want to say I’m sorry for not calling you” he tucked his hands away in his sweater “and for what happen between you and Jude” he glanced up at Stella as she shook the stovetop popcorn. “Why are you apologizing? it’s my fault for not realizing how much of a jerk I’ve been” the popped popcorn began to expand inside the foil causing it to nearly burst through, she turns the stove off and popped a hole in the foil releasing the popcorn into separate bowls.  
Forty chewed his lip, “Jude didn’t want us being friends anymore” he pushed away from the doorway and helped Stella prepare the snacks, “Did he really?” she gasped, she clicked her tongue in disbelief and threw away the leftover kernels. Forty nodded, the doorbell rang loudly throughout the apartment causing both Stella and Forty to glance over at the door, “I forgot that Noah is the only person who has ever used our doorbell” she exhaled with a slight chuckle. Tonight they are going to watch ‘The Shinning Stella was nervous to watch it because she was scared of horror films and prefers dramas and comedies, horror films were Zoey’s thing. Zoey opened the front door and was greeted by Noah, “Hey’ he smiled at everyone and kicked off his shoes, both Stella and Forty waved from the kitchen, “Think they’ll get back together?” Forty asked turning around to face the counter. Stella hummed, “There’s too much chemistry between for them not to” She smirked and poured M&M’s into the two separate bowls, “I separated the bowls so Zoey is forced to share with Noah” a cheeky grin spread across her face. Forty smirked as Stella walked away, it didn’t take him long to realize that they too will be forced to share a bowl, he knew she was afraid of horror movies and wondered why she decided to watch ‘The Shining’.  
*  
Zoey and Stella sat in the middle of the couch as Forty sat on Stella’s side and Noah on the other. Stella clinched onto Forty’s shirt as she watched Jack Torrance get locked into the hotel freezer by his wife Wendy, “He should just break the door” Zoey commented and tossed a piece of popcorn in her mouth. Stella was too caught in the moment to realize how close she was to Forty, Forty glanced down at her admiring the way the tv reflected off her skin. His attention has been focused on how close Stella was and how her hair smelt like fruity strawberries then on the actual movie, he has seen this movie a dozen times but he will forever associate the movie with this very moment.   
As the movie progressed Stella was using Forty as a shield to hide parts of the movie, her hand felt around the popcorn bowl searching for an M&M to match her popcorn, instead, she was greeted with Forty’s hand. Her hand brisked over his causing them to both simultaneously blush, instead of pulling away Forty wrapped his hand around hers. Stella felt the skin on her face turn hot, Forty pulled their joined hands out of the bowl and under the blanket that laid across them all. Stella’s mind wandered from the film and focused on the feeling of Forty caressing her hand with his thumb, she bit her lip slightly feeling uneasy, and glanced up at Forty who was already staring at her. She leaned her head onto his shoulder sending a wave of relief to ripple over Forty’s anxious body, he smiled warmly feeling his heart swell with happiness. Stella closed her weary eyes feeling a sense of comfort like no other and fell asleep against his shoulder.  
*  
Zoey stood up as the credits began rolling, “Too bad Jack died” she frowned, Noah, nodded “Right? I feel like he should’ve woken up at the end so that there is no happy ending” He stretched. Zoey gasped slightly noticing that Stella had fallen asleep against Forty’s shoulder, “Aw, how cute” she smirked seeing that they were both asleep. Noah stood next to her looking over at them, “They still haven’t gotten together?” he glanced over at Zoey surprised, she shook her head and leaned against the doorway admiring them. “We should leave them alone” Noah nodded and headed towards the door putting his shoes back on, “Thanks for having me over, I had fun” He smiled, “Thanks for coming over, it was nice seeing you again” She held the door open for him and watched as he stepped outside, his car was parked on the street beneath the lamppost. Snow flurries began to cover to wet grass, “We should hang out again soon” She added watching him leave, he turned back around with a smile “I’ll call you tomorrow” He waved and climbed into his car leaving.


	18. Polaroid

“Could you take our photo?” Stella held her polaroid camera in her right glove, Noah nodded and unhooked his arm from Zoey’s shoulders. Stella and Forty stood in front of the huge Christmas tree lit with beautiful decorative lights and ornaments, Forty wrapped his arm around Stella as she leaned in with her hand resting on his chest, “Say Christmas!” Noah quickly snapped their picture and lightly blew on the developing image. Forty smiled and kissed Stella’s cheek, snow landed heavily on the beautiful Christmas decorations that scattered the park, “It's getting really cold, can we head back?” Zoey shivered and rubbed her bare hands together.

*

Zoey unlocked the front door snickering at a joke Forty made, “Oh my god” She gasped, the hair on the back of Stella’s neck rose, “What?” She furrowed her eyebrows stepping into their chilly apartment. Noah and Forty stood frozen staring at the wrecked living room, “what the hell?” her eyes scanned the room glancing between the open windows to the broken glass on the floor. Zoey hastily ran to her room and screamed when she saw that her bed was ripped to shreds and her window was wide open allowing a piercing cold breeze to flow through the apartment, “What the fuck!” She shouted and fell to her knees. Stella stood in the hallway trembling, “Make sure nothing has been taken from your room” Zoey sniffled and began searching around her room. Stella's lips formed a thin line, she closed her eyes, “My room hasn’t been touched” she winced feeling a sort of guilt. She didn’t want Zoey to think it was Stella’s fault, after all, they were together all day, “What do you mean?” She stood up walking past her to look at her room. Stella looked over at Forty who shared the same troubled expression, “Why is your room the only room that wasn’t messed with?” she clenched her fist, “I-I,” she stuttered, “don’t know” stammering. Zoey took a deep breath, “I’ll start the living room” Stella quickly shuffled down the hall, she sighed and slammed the windows shut. Forty gathered trash stuffing it into a bag, “What’s this?” Forty held a crumpled sheet of notebook paper. Stella took the note from his hand, confusion stained across her face as she stared at the one letter word, Ophelia. Her knees buckled and she thumped against Forty nearly knocking him over but luckily he caught her, “Stella!” Forty shouted as he slid down against the wall, “What happen?” Zoey frantically ran into the room with her messy bun flopping all over her head. Stella's eyes fluttered open quickly as she woke with a gasp, “What’s wrong?” Zoey knelt next to her. Forty glanced at Noah with a worried expression, “I found this note on the floor,” he showed them the note, “It says Ophelia” he looked down at Stella who climbed out of his arms heaving heavily. Zoey immediately knew who Ophelia was, “I think it's best if you two head home” She looked between the two guys who gave her a sympathetic nod, Forty leaned over leaving a sweet kiss on Stella’s forehead.

*

Stella climbed into her bed with shivers running down her spine, her fuzzy socks rubbed against her legs warming themselves up. Her teeth chattered slightly and she turned around to face her window, tree branches raked against the glass window with a low growl as snow fluttered through the wind storm. The apartment was still cold from the windows being open, Stella clinched her eyes shut trying to remember what the boy looked like the day Ophelia died, suddenly she began to remember more of the boy. Memories with holes blipped through her mind as she recalled vague memories of the boy's face.

*

“Stella! Wait for me!” A small voice shouted behind her, Stella giggled wildly as she plopped down in front of the tree stump, the boy began to appear over the large hill she would often go sledding on during Christmas. He heaved with his hands on his knees, he glanced up at her with a smirk “I’ll catch up to you one day” he plopped on the green grass next to her. A slight breeze ran over the grass and whipping through her brown hair as they bought caught a sweet scent of honeysuckles, “Do you smell that?” She closed her eyes breathing deeply. He nodded quickly, “Honeysuckles” they spoke simultaneously. Stella stood up sniffing, “I think it's over there” She pointed at the bushes lining the edge of the woods, he nodded with a wide smile, “Last one there has to cut the onions for dinner tonight!” he shouted and darted off towards the bushes. Stella gasped and ran behind him, “That’s not fair! You got a head start!” He stopped abruptly in front of the bushes causing Stella to nearly knock into him, “What’s wrong?” her heart thumped loudly in her chest, she glanced back at the bushes then his blank face. He stuttered, “What?” she shook his shoulders, he lifted his hand from his side and pointed behind the bush, Stella whipped her head in the direction of the rustling branches. Stella gasped, the boy covered her mouth with his dirty hand, her eyes swelled in fear as she watched Mr. Sanders the board member for the community cutting open one of the girls they look after. Mr. Sanders glanced up as they ducked, “We have to go” he whispered watching Mr. Sanders move the girl's body. Stella nodded, the boy ran towards the Library building and Stella followed behind him looking over her shoulder to make sure they weren’t being chased. Mrs. Crabtree stood in front of the door noticing how fast the two were running towards the door, “What are you two doing” She spat looking between the two children, “We racing up the hill” he half lied catching his breath. Stella glared at her old weathered skin, “What would your mother say if she saw you alone with a girl, Judah?” She glared at him. He stammered, “We weren’t doing anything! I promise” He whined feeling his palms begin to sweat, he chewed his lip slightly “Why don’t you tell Mrs. Bowen I said hello” she gritted with a smile. He nodded and took off quickly, she looked down at Stella, “You shouldn’t be hanging around the older boys. I’ll walk you home” She grabbed Stella’s small hand and led her down the stone path.

*

Stella woke up with a loud gasp, sweat-soaked her cotton pillowcase “Jude” she whispered and flung her legs over the side of her bead. Pain radiated from her head, she winced slightly and slid into her jeans layering herself in heavy winter clothes. She fastened her winter boots tightly around her feet and left, the snow crunched beneath her boots as she walked along the snowy sidewalk. Clumps of snow layers her hat, her teeth chattered more and more the longer she was out, she was going to Jude’s house to confront him about her dream. A winter storm warning was sent out earlier that day warning residents of severe cold weather that would reach into the negatives, Stella ignored the numb tingling feeling rising from her toes and kept walking. The joints between her fingers felt rustic as if they needed oil to move, she sniffled as her nose began to run, “Almost there” she whispered. Stella sneakily approached his house and stood on her tiptoes to see into his bedroom window, her eyes peered over the frame searching for him, but he wasn’t there. “Huh?” She rubbed her eyes confused about why he isn’t home. She stepped down and stuffed her hands back into her pockets, except she couldn’t feel her hands anymore. Her body shook rapidly as she realized how cold she actually was, cold air pierced her lungs with each slow breath, she followed her tracks back onto the sidewalk. She winced feeling pain in the joints between her knees, she glanced down at her watch on her wrist realizing that she had been out walking for 2 hours and she wasn’t even close to home. Snow fell onto her eyelashes clouding her vision, she tried to wipe the snow away but her hands completely missed her face. “I-I n-need to ca-call Fo-orty” she stammered between her teeth, she reached for her phone in her back pocket and attempted to call him. Her fingers sluggishly fumbled on the keypad dialing his number. She forced the phone to her ear, “Please pick up” She whined sitting down on the curb, her breathing hitched slowly. Forty answered sheepishly, “Forty!” she shouted, Forty grumbled slightly waking up, “I-I need you to pick m-me up” her teeth rattled even louder now. “I’m under the lamppost on 6th street” her face felt as though it was burning from the sharp wind, Forty replied telling her to stay where she is and he will pick her up. Stella huddled herself in a ball trying to salvage any warmth she may have, her body shuddered cruelly as snow fell hard onto her coat and hat. She sniffled loudly, “Forty hurry” she begged. Forty parked his father's truck on the side of the street next to Stella, “Stella!” His voiced cracked, he picked her shaking body up from the icy ground and fastened her into the passenger seat. He quickly hopped into the driver's seat and turned the air vents to face her, “I’m taking you to my place, you’re gonna be okay” he placed his hand on her thigh with a reassuring glance. She nodded and held her hands above the warm vent, “T-thank y-you” she wiped away a warm tear that streamed down her flushed cheeks.

*

“I took a first responder class, we can't let you take a bath yet” He slowly peeled away her wet jacket, she groaned, “It’ll warm me up” She shivered. He shook his head, “Not under your body temperature rises, I don’t want to accidentally send you into shock” He handed her a blanket. He took her boots off and sat them in his closet, “I’m going to make some hot chocolate” He stood up leaving the room. She glanced around, she has never been to his house before let alone his room. She smiled weakly seeing the photo he took of her two years ago, she examined the picture noticing how happy and unbothered she was. She sighed and snuggled into the blanket, she inhaled deeply filling her lungs with his scent Forty walked in moments later will a hot cup of cocoa topped with whip cream. She smiled up at him, “Thanks” she sipped feeling the hot sugar drink fill her chest, he smiled back “I like your room” she lifted from her drink with a small thin white line over her top lip from the whipped cream, he chuckled, “Thanks.”


	19. Teeth

Stella blinked her eyes open feeling the sunbeam against her face from the window, “Morning” Forty greeted and rubbed her back. She lifted her head from his chest and tucked her hair behind her ears, “What time is it?” she sat up rubbing her eyes, Forty glanced at the clock, “7:36m.” he sat up leaning against his pillow. She inhaled sharply, “I have to talk to Jude” flashbacks from last night crippled her mind, Forty furrowed his eyebrows confused “Why?” he yawned. He wasn’t worried about what Stella would do while he wasn’t there but what Jude might do to her, “Just some past stuff” she dodged telling him the truth. She didn’t want Forty to know that she and Jude grew up together in a cult, he nodded, “Alright, do you need a ride?” he asked putting on his jeans. Stella shook her head, “No it's okay,” she snaked her arms into her coat, “I have to think about what I’m going to say to him” a light hearted chuckle escaped her lips masking her nervousness. He hummed in response and kissed her goodbye watching her walk down the sidewalk leaving prints in the snow.

*

She inhaled deeply and removed her coat, the sun beamed onto the sparkling white snow blinding her slightly. She stood at Jude’s front door feeling uneasiness bubble in her stomach, she gulped and knocked on the door twice, she stood waiting for several minutes but no response. A lump developed in her throat as she seized the doorknob, she turned her wrist hearing the click of the lock, the door creaked open slightly as she pulled her hand away. She glanced over her shoulder and slid inside the dark house, “Jude?” she called out in the hallway but was greeted with silence. She shuffled in the dark down the cluttered hall and into his room, light shined through the blinds of his window illuminating lines across the room. She glanced around and the still perfect room, even the sun couldn’t highlight any volatile dust. A small voice urged for her to snoop around his room, she lifted up the hem of his bed and glanced underneath checking if anything is hidden but frowned.

She sat up thinking of another place someone would hide something, she quickly opened his closet and shuffled around searching around for any ‘secret doors’ but sat back defeated. She rolled her head back against the wall lancing up at the ceiling, something on the ceiling in the closet caught her eye. She stood up and stood on her tiptoes feeling the unmatched texture of the ceiling, her heart raced as she quickly grabbed his desk chair and stood on the black seat reaching the ceiling. She pressed the tile inwards and felt her hand around the black hole, her hand glazed over ventilation and landed on a box. Her eyes widen as she pulled the box down, dust fell onto her sleeve as she stepped off the chair and sat on the closet floor. She at the box down and lifted the lid carefully, her fingers trembled as she picked up a zip lock baggy that contained a small chunk of hair. She gawked at the bag and set it down on the wooden floor next to her and lifted the stack of photos, her eyes widen as she flipped through the photos of her sleeping and in the woods. Her stomach ached with pain as she found her vibrator along with the batteries taken out, “that bastard” she hissed. Her hands kept diving deeper into the box pulling out her panties and bras, beneath them she found several more photos except they weren’t of her.

Her eyes narrowed on the distorted and bloody women in each photo, she dropped the stack back into the box afraid of what else she may find. She couldn’t stop looking in the box, she slapped her hand over her mouth as she pulled out a bag of teeth and fingernails. She quickly tossed everything back into the box and slammed the lid closed and tossed it back into the gaping hole in the ceiling. She overheard the front door open, “I’ll be back I forgot my cigarettes” Jude shouted outside, Stella swiftly pushed the chair back and hid in his closet. She heaved quickly listening to Jude open his door and walk around his room, she glanced down at the bottom of the door watching him pace back and forth. She covered her mouth and nose with her hand and shuffled farther back into the closet, Jude paused for a second and tapped his foot a few times before grabbing his cigarettes off his desk. He walked out of the room and opened and closed the door several times and exhaled, his shoes trailed away from the room and was followed by the front door slamming closed. Sweat dripped off her forehead and she listened to his voice trail further and further from his house, she quickly busted through the closet door and ran home in the opposite direction.

*

She paced back and forth in her bedroom refusing to believe that Jude hurt those girls, Zoey busted through her door, “Will you stop pacing! I can hear you no the kitchen” She growled with a frown. Stella froze and sat down on her bed, Zoey stared at her for a moment, “what’s wrong?” she stepped into her room surveying her face. Stella kicked off her shoes, she scanned her thoughts trying to sort out what she saw at Judes she opened her mouth but closed it making an inaudible sound, “what?” she pressed onto Stella. Stella dragged her face down with her hands, “Graah” she kicked her side table nearly knocking the lamp off. Zoey flinched back, “Stella” her voice grew firm with a sour expression, “H- I don’t know how to explain what I just witnessed”

*

“Wait, he had their teeth in a bag?” her eyes scanned Stella’s expression, she nodded feeling as though she got punched in her gut. “I don’t know what to do” her eyes flickered to the creaky floorboards, “Go to the police, duh” Zoey grabbed her hand gawking at Stella. Her palms were sweaty, “I guess” she mumbled feeling broken, she had begun to ignore the 8 other girls that went missing since they broke up. The girls didn’t cross her mind anymore because she was alive and wasn’t affected by their deaths but now that she knows it was Jude she has to tell the police. Stella sniffled and wiped away a rogue tear, “What's wrong with me?” she whined. More tears flowed from her doe eyes, “Part of me wants to not tell anyone because maybe it’s not him but another part of me can’t unsee that box” whimpering she laid her head on Zoey’s shoulder. Zoey rubbed her back soothingly, “You have to tell the police, or else I will” she gave Stella a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder. Stella nodded and began slipping back into her shoes, “I’ll call you if I need anything” she tucked her hands in her jacket. Grief weighed heavily in Stella’s chest as she approached the local police department building, her hand rested on the doorknob contemplating opening the door, she sighed heavily and stepped inside the warm building.

She shuffled towards the desk, “C-can I sp-peak to Officer Johnson?” she stammered, the receptionist nodded and directed her to Mr. Johnson's office. “Hello” he greeted her at his door, “Hi” she murmured, he gestured her to sit in the chair across from him. She squirmed slightly trying to get comfortable, “So what brings you in?” his fingers locked together as he leaned in the desk, “I think my ex-boyfriend is responsible for killing the girls in our town” she swallowed the lump in her throat. He cocked an eyebrow, “Why do you think he is responsible?” he asked reaching for his notebook and pen, Stella inhaled sharply feeling her toes go numb, “I- this is going to sound really bad, but I snooped around his room when he wasn’t home,” he furrowed his eyebrows slightly, “And I found this box in the ceiling of his room, it had pictures of the girls, teeth, hair, nails, etc.” she added. His expression changed as he listened to her explain the contents of the box, his scrabbled down the list of items she reported in the box. As several hours passed by Officer Johnson offered her a cup of water, “Thank you for coming in Ms. Adams,” He pushed his written papers aside, “Your report has been very useful, I recommend that you stay away from Mr. Bowen” He stood up picking his hat up from the hook it comfortably sat on. Stella nodded standing up, her knees felt weak “If we have any more questions we will contact you” he assured and walked her down the hall and outside. Stella sighed heavily and glanced up at the clouds that passed by, her feet carried her away from the department.

A tornado of thoughts swirled through her mind as she found herself walking towards Winston. She unzipped her jacket and wrapped it around her waist, she pulled her long sleeves over her hands and chewed her lip thinking about Forty. Her fingers desperately searched for the cold cigarettes that she has ignored, she flicked her lighter and lit the tip inhaling deeply. “Feels good, doesn’t it?” A voice echoed behind her, she flinched slightly and whipped her head around. “Jude?” she gasped, she placed her hands over her chest trying to act cool. He nodded with a shit-face grin, “How have you been, love?” he stood next to her puffing on his own cigarette, she stood for a moment inhaling his lost scent. She smirked slightly, “Alright” smoke flowed from her nose and mouth, Jude bit his nip with a slight nod “Where we going?” he asked with the cigarette between his lips. Stella watched his lips suck on the cigarette, “Winston” she replied. He nodded again, “So that’s the name on the side of the tree, innit?” his converse thudded against the ground. She nodded feeling uneasy but the cigarette will fix that, “Haven’t seen you in a bit” he shoved her shoulder slightly causing her to fumble with her hair, she nodded with a faint smile. She glanced up at him as he flicked his cigarette onto the ground, her heart pounded against her chest as it was torn between hating him but loving him. “You alright?” he glanced over at her, she couldn’t hide her conflicted feelings.

She nodded and climbed up the rope with Jude following closely behind her, she stood on the rug with her shoes and fixed herself a glass of water. Jude sat on the loveseat, “Did you come by my house earlier?” he asked picking the dirt out underneath his nails, Stella paused momentarily “No, why?” She lied. She felt her ears began to sting from her obvious lie, he huffed slightly, “I was just asking because I noticed that my chair wasn’t in the exact place I had left it” He stood up running his hands through his hair. Stella felt a lump grow in her throat, she was never a good liar and she knew it, “So, were you at my house earlier today?” he leaned against the doorframe of the kitchen. Stella trembled slightly, “Y-yes, I was looking for something” she admitted, a white lie. He arched his eyebrow, “and what were you looking for?” he stepped closer to her, her breathing hitched “M-my vibrator” she looked to the ground embarrassed. He smirked, “Didn’t know you used one”


	20. Waiting for you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are nearing the end!

Stella leaned her head back against the wall suddenly feeling her tight muscles, Jude studied her face as she rested her eyes for a moment. “If you haven’t noticed,” He fumbled with the candle on the mantle, “I like my room being in order.” he stood over her as she opened her eyes. She nodded silently, she wasn’t off the hook that easily, she sat up tilting her head to look at him, “And I know when things in my room have been moved” his face grew cold. She scrambled to her feet, “You found much more than your vibrator” he turned his head and walked back into the kitchen. Her breathing hitched, she knew that Jude knows what she found, “I-I didn’t tell anyone” her words fumbled over her dry mouth. A small chuckle emerged from the kitchen, “I followed you from my house, and to the police department” He stepped out from the kitchen holding a knife, and I know you told them.  
She gulped slightly, her thoughts stammered, “Why do you have their teeth?” She spat feeling anger bubble inside. Jude sat on the couch and laid the knife on the armrest, “Do you remember when we found Mr. Sanders eating that girl from our youth group?” he glanced up at her with swollen doe eyes. Stella’s eyes flickered to her feet as she nodded her head. “and when you sliced that man's throat that killed Ophelia?” he slid his hand up and down the crisp knife.

  
She kept her head down, “You loved my sister, and I loved you,” his voice trembled, “and I swore to myself I would keep you safe, as you did with my sister” a rogue tear streamed down his cheek, Stella's lips formed a thin line as she felt her eyes began to sting. “But your family took you away from me, and I followed you here and waited for you” he sat up wiping his eyes. Stella took a step back feeling uneasy, “All I’ve wanted was to keep you safe, even if that means killing people who are a threat” He left the knife on the couch, he approached Stella and tilted her head up with his hands. Her eyes lined with hot tears, he surveyed her face “They were going to hurt you, and I couldn’t let them do that” He comforted.  
She felt as though she was drowning, she understood why he killed them and felt compassion towards him but the voice in her head told her that he was psychotic. Her heart was torn between loving him but hating him with every inch in her body, “I-“ She hesitated, “I went through years of therapy to forget about the cult” she sniffled and wiped her face, “And you aren’t going to make me relapse” she clenched her fist. His expression turned sour, “Let's run away together, we can restart our lives together and be together as it should’ve been” veins protruded from his forehead. She took a step back, “They were going to hurt you!” he shouted behind her as she quickly grabbed her small bag.

She shifted on her heels and scrambled down the rope with Jude right behind her, “You aren’t going to leave me again!” He growled from the top of the rope and slid down the treehouse. Stella fell to the ground with a thud and ran into the woods, her heart pounded against her heaving chest. The moon illuminated sparse light throughout the forest as it rose higher in the sky, a small grunt escaped her lips as she nearly tripped over a fallen branch but caught herself in time. Jude shouted behind her as she ran through the wet ground, “Don’t make me force you!” he screamed behind her. Her feet carried her faster than what she could see but she trusted her instincts, the sound of Jude’s footsteps grew faint behind her as his shouted became inaudible. Her chest ached with pain, she hastily climbed the large oak tree and sat on a dense branch.  
Jude ran past her several minutes later, she inhaled sharply feeling pain radiate from her legs and her chest. She reached into her bag and pulled out her inhaler and took several puffs relieving her asthma, she wiped her runny nose with her sleeve and escaladed down from the tree. She looked over her shoulder and ran back to Winston.  
*  
Her hands nearly dropped her phone as she dialed Forty, except he didn’t answer. She left him a voicemail and paced around the living room, she held her phone between her hands dialing the police. Jude appeared in the doorway covered in dirt, he heled the knife up, “Why can’t you let someone fucking love you?” he spat heaving. She scrambled to the kitchen to grab a knife but he ran behind her and nicked her in the thigh piercing through her jeans and skin, she fell to the ground holding her thigh. “Maybe you won’t run off again” he gritted through his teeth. Her hands covered the wound applying pressure to stop the bleeding but the blood poured onto the ground staining her clothes, “Why would you do that?!” she cried. She pulled herself to her feet with a whimper, “I don’t love you, your fuckin psychotic!” her voice cracked, a sad whimper escaped her lips as she felt a wave of warm blood squirt from her thigh.  
She wobbled to the doorway, “Don’t you ever fucking touch me again” her weak broken voice scratched, he chewed his lip and pushed her out the living room door. Her hands flared in the air reaching for the rope as she fell, her hands caught the rope as she slid down it ripping her hands up. She caught herself before thumping to the ground again, Jude glanced at the dark ground, “If you won't come with me then I’ll just fucking kill you!” he screamed from above. She wobbled away in the dark holding a knife in her right hand, she covered her mouth and screamed realizing she left her phone on the counter. She hid behind a bush, “Not before I kill you first” her dry throat croaked.  
*  
Jude mindlessly walked around the woods taunting her, she was too weak to run from the deep wound in her thigh so she waited for him to come to her. She stood up, “Jude?” She cried hoping he’d come closer, Jude perked up “Stella!?” He shouted. Stella emerged from behind the bush, “I’m sorry, I should’ve taken your offer” she held her bloodstain hands, Jude sized her up and down and sighed loudly, “It's okay” he opened his arms for her. She gulped and wrapped her arms around him, she felt his heartbeat rapidly behind his chest, she pulled a knife out from her sweater sleeves and stabbed his lower back. Jude let out a blood-curdling scream, “Fuck you!!” she cried and push him off of her, he doubled over with his hand on his back and a knife in the other. “You bitch” He growled and wobbled over to her, she felt bold and swung her fist colliding with his warm cheek. He wiped the blood from his lip and glanced up at her, she was close enough for him to grab her.  
He grasped her small neck with his one hand, “My momma always said you were a fighter,” he commented and wrapped his other hand around her neck. A pathetic squeak emerged from her throat while her hands scratched at him flaring in the air. He pushed her back against a large tree pushing more weight against her neck, her face turned scarlet, he drove his knife into her stomach. “Too bad she died that night too.” he cried.  
A log swung above his head and crashed against his temple sending him to the ground with a startling thud, Stella choked as air filled her shriveled lungs. “F-forty?” her voice scratched. Forty grabbed her hand lifting her from the ground, “I was worried about you” he surveyed her weak body. She leaned onto his shoulder nearly falling to the ground, “I don’t feel okay” her voice trailed as she fell to the ground. Blood drained from her abdomen and met with her thigh wound.  
*  
Stella lifted her head from the wet grass, the sun began to peek over the horizon sending beams of light across the woods. Her blurry vision fixated on the figure approaching her, “Forty?” she whispered unable to lift her body from the ground. A chuckle peered over Jude’s face as he stood over Stella, “Jude” he corrected her. Her weary expression turned into utter fear, she tried dragging herself away from him but he kicked her in her side before she could move an inch, she yelled out in pain holding her side. She glanced over noticing Forty’s body lying on the ground unconscious, “Forty” she gasped for air as he kicked her again. She felt a crack run through her body, “fuck you” she exhaled feeling useless. He wiped the blood off his eyebrow, “Forty worried me for a second, I actually believed he had the upper hand” his breathing was rapid. He crouched down next to her, “You can never get rid of me, I’ll be waiting for you the rest of your life” several barks emerged from the distance in the woods. Jude stood up and shot a glance in the direction of the dogs, “huh?” he murmured as he saw 3 large dogs run towards him. Several police officers ran behind the dogs, “Shit!” he roared and ran into the woods, Stella’s lips curled into a faint smile before she slipped into the dark pits of her mind.  
*  
Her head bowed back and forth on the stretcher as it rolled over the grass, her eyes peaked open catching a short glimpse of Jude fighting the police officers behind handcuffs. Jude kicked and thrashed the air trying to escape but he was outnumbered, “I’ll be waiting for you!” Jude screamed at Stella. Her lips moved behind the Intubation tube trying to ask where Forty was but she was unable to speak, her eyes fluttered shut again as they lifted her into the ambulance. 


	21. The Judge

Loud beeps slowly woke Stella from her sleep, she leaned her head to the side trying to ignore the mixture of machine beeps but she couldn’t fall back asleep. She opened her eyes feeling crust crack on her eyelashes, she hummed slightly squinting at the bright lights. A familiar face peeked over the hospital bed, “Stella!” Zoey exclaimed, Stella, smirked slightly, “Hey” she whispered feeling her words get caught in her sore throat. Zoey smiled widely, “You finally decided to wake up” she rubbed her thumb over Stella’s hand. Stella sat up with a groan feeling shooting pain rise in her stomach, the pain reminded her of that night, “Where’s Forty?” her eyes darted searching for him in the room. Zoey gripped her hand tightly, “He’s lucky” Zoey peered down at the white floor. Stella exhaled loudly, “So he’s alright, right?” worry filled her voice and her eyes, Zoey nodded slowly.

“He has a few broken bones, punctured lung. They said he was lucky that the knife slipped missing his heart. You lost a lot of blood yourself,” She glanced down at her bandaged leg. “Your stomach wound was pretty bad, they said” she added. Stella gnawed her lip slightly, “W-what about Jude?” she fumbled, her heart ached for Jude. Years of built up trauma was his downfall, his obsession with Stella only made him worse and if only she knew sooner she could’ve helped him. “He’s in custody, your lawyers were waiting for you to wake up before the trial” she answered scanning Stella’s hurt expression. A small tear fell onto her white blanket, she wiped it quickly with faded a weak smile. She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked up to the ceiling to prevent more tears from falling. “Are you okay?” Zoey leaned over, Stella’s face formed a fractured expression and tears gushed down her face. “He’s so broken” she hiccupped burying her face in the soft reassuring blanket, Zoey chewed her lip not knowing what to say to fix Stella.

Zoey stroked her shoulder softly as Stella sob into her blanket, Zoey felt hot tears peak at her eyelashes and hastily wiped them away. “I’m sorry, Stel” she sniffled. “You aren’t allowed to cry, its my time to cry” Stella choked out a chuckle, Zoey rolled her eyes with a smile.

*

Stella shifted her weight onto her crutches and she made her way to her seat in the bitter courtroom, she trembled slightly as her lawyer pushed her chair in behind her. Stella glanced over her shoulder into the crowded room locking eyes with Forty, Noah, and Zoey. Forty gave her a firm nod reassuring her that she is doing the right thing, Stella inhaled sharply and looked over at the Judge, Jude sulked in his seat on the opposite side of the room. They all have been waiting weeks for the Judge's decision on Jude’s punishment and today was the day they will all know what will happen to him.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Calling the case of the People of the State of Ohio versus Judah Bowen” The Judge scanned over everyone in the courtroom. After several hours of going over the final details of the event that happened that night and the deaths of the 13 women. The Judge cleared his throat breaking Stella from her expressionless gaze, “Jude you have the right to address the court this afternoon before the imposition of sentence. You are not required to say anything, should that be your choice, but the law does afford you that right and opportunity. Is there anything that you wish to state to the court this afternoon?” He lowered his bifocals onto the tip of his nose. Jude shook his head in response as his lawyers instructed.

“Very well then, has the jury reached a unanimous verdict?” His voice boomed across the courtroom, the Juror nodded. “Mr. Bowen, you were found guilty of all 13 counts of 2nd-degree murder and 2 counts of aggravated assault. We hereby sentence you to 25 years to life without the possibility of parole in the Belmont Correctional Institution.” Stella glanced over at Jude who was already staring at her, he bowed his head before being forced to stand.  _ ‘I’ll be waiting for you’ _ he mouthed as they cuffed his hands behind his back, Stella chewed her lip slightly and glanced over at Forty who flashed her a warm smile. Stella exhaled and flinched slightly as her lawyer patted her shoulder, “Good job Stella, he can’t hurt you or anyone anymore” he rubbed her shoulder before releasing his grip. Her shoulders rolled slightly feeling the weight of a thousand pounds lifted off of her, she nibbled her lip lightly and grinned, “Thank you”

She stood up bracing her weight on the table and seized her crutches and lingered behind her lawyer as they left the courtroom.

*

Stella sat in the passenger seat of Noah’s car as Zoey sat in the back, the car was filled with silence as no one dared to speak. Stella glanced at her rugged reflection in the side mirror, she moved her head side to side as she noticed the bruises around her neck began to disappear. She smirked slightly and cranked the radio up and flashed Forty a cheeky smile in the mirror.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for taking your time and reading my story. I hope you all enjoyed it, I wasn't too sure how I wanted to end this and had several other ideas but I think this is most fitting. Particularly if I plan on doing a part two, anyways please don't forget to bookmark, comment, and kudos!  
> Thank you all for sticking around for these 21 chapters :)


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